Beyond Chapter 545
by BetaTest401
Summary: An alternate ending to Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail. Includes all of the original characters, new characters, and new plots. Rated T for cursing and light adult/teen humor. Kind of sad and gory at the beginning. Some Nalu, Gale, Jerza, And Gruvia moments in later chapters. I pardon for any mistakes in advance. Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 546: The Hundred Year Mission

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, nor chapter 545 of the manga from which my story begins. Hiro Mashima has that honor. However, this story idea I came up with on my own. So let's begin!**

"Gramps!" Natsu yelled at the top of his lungs.

Makarov's face twisted up with pain as he managed to open his eye. At first he didn't know where he was, or what in the hell was going on, but then after several moments of trying to remember, he remembered everything. The whole guild had begun the 100 year quest given to them by the royal family of Fiore. Their mission? To find every guild master, who had all gone missing in the last week without a trace. And to find whoever was causing this chaos. They traveled across the continent, and after searching high and low, they had finally found them, and this place. This battlefield. Where his children were dying, being barely even touched and then falling to the ground, dead. He felt so helpless, especially since he had let himself become captured so easily when the guild first arrived. From where spikes of cold iron dug his hands into the wall, he could see that more than half of them had fallen.

Only seven remained. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Happy, Carla and Wendy stood, frozen with determination to not fall, but fight to rescue their master and relieve all the worry and sorrow that the guilds felt at the loss of their masters. And to avenge their fallen guildmates, which meant more to them than the world.

"Gramps, we're coming for you!" Natsu screamed.

"Just hang in there!" He heard Erza cry out. But as soon as the words escaped her lips, a piercing scream echoed throughout the battlefield. It had come from Makarov.

Blood gurgled in Makarov's throat as he managed to shut his mouth again. An over excruciating pain coursed through his body, worse than the previous form of torture that he had endured over the past few days. The guild mates eyes widened, not only with fear, but of anger and hatred of whoever his captor was. Then, out of the shadows, a raspy voice came close to his ear.

" Yes. Scream. Make your "children" suffer while watching their master become so abused, he is paralyzed, and then make them watch you as you die a slow, agonizing death." The voice then cackled with laughter, and the figure beside Makarov disappeared. Another scream echoed throughout the battlefield.

"Master!" Erza cried.

"Gramps!" Yelled Natsu and Gray.

" Hold on Master, you've got to hang in there!" That voice belonged to Lucy.

The edgy voice echoed again, "There's no point. Your Master will pay for toying with the idea that he and his pitiful little guild could ever overpower me!" Another laugh.

Natsu gritted his teeth. "Lucy! You and Wendy go get Gramps all healed. We'll take care of this-"

Another ear-splitting scream of pain.

"Go, Now!"

"Hai!" All of them exclaimed in unison.

"Hang on Master, we're coming!"

But Makarov couldn't hold on. The pain was simply unbearable. He spat blood on the ground, and as the last little bit of magic energy that was keeping him alive drained from his body, he felt the pain drain too. And then, he lost feeling in all of his limbs and hung limp on the wall from the spikes. He looked down at his children, slaughtered, and then on the party that was still standing. All of their eyes told a message. Some told tales of fear, some of hatred, but all of them told tales of sadness. Sadness that their Master was leaving them forever, and nothing could be done about it. Tears filled the eyes of all the standing members. And then, Makarov smiled, and began to speak:

"I'm very proud of you, my children."

Everyone looked up at him with mild surprise and still sadness.

"Even at the last trial, you never will stop fighting for what you believe in. You fight for your friends, your family, and for your guild's sake. You deserved a better father, one that would always care for you, and I'm sorry that I couldn't be any more to you."

"Master, no, don't talk like that, you're going to be fine-" the trio had reached the bottom of the hill from which he was hanging.

"Dammit, the walls' too high. Hang on Master, we're coming-"

"Don't bother with me children, it's too late for me-"

"No it's not! We'll think of something-"All of the guild members had gathered at the foot of the hill now, and all had tears in their eyes as they looked up at the dying face of their Master. Makarov's vision was starting to blur and so he really didn't know who was speaking, but he knew it was no longer Lucy's. He spat more blood.

"There is no time. You must protect yourselves-"

"Of course there is, you'll see. We'll get you down from there and-"

"No. You must fight now, and forget me."

"No, I refuse!"

"Listen to me."

"No, we're gonna save you-"

"Children!" he said sternly. There was a moment of stunned silence, and then in a quiet voice, Makarov spoke,

"I just wanted you to know-"

"Hang on Gramps!"

"Hang on Master!"

"Stay with us-"

"...that I-"

"Hold on!"

"...couldn't be more proud of you all."

Makarov took a deep breath, then let it out. Then He smiled again, His eyes shut, and he was lost to the world.

"Gramps! NOOO!"

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For a moment, no one spoke. Then sobs erupted from every standing member of the Fairy Tail Guild. Long hard sobs, of sorrow and sadness echoed throughout the body filled plain. And the ground was watered with the tears of mourning. The only other sound was that of a growing, evil cackle.

"Ha! Guild scum! Your emotions have left you wide open."

##############################################################"As quick as a flash, cold metal spikes shot out of the ground and grabbed every member and pinned them to the wall. Cries of pain were made, and the evil cackle sounded again.

"Again, wide open! Guild wizards really are dumber than they look." the voice mocked. Every guild member was struggling to get free, but to no avail. Many were still crying, but not even tears could sway their captor, apparently. All except one were clueless on how they were going to escape. Natsu was getting fed up with all this crap, and with tears still in his eyes, yelled with all the willpower he could muster:

"Show yourself, you mindless bastard! You cowardly scum! Come and fight me so I can show you what happens to those who kill the people I care about!"

There was a moment of silence. Then the voice spoke. "Very well."

From out of the shadows, a hooded figure stepped forward. Every step closer he took to the remaining guild members, the spikes dug harder into their hands. But none of them would scream, they wouldn't let this figure have the sick pleasure of hearing them in pain. The figure stepped forward until his face was only an inch from Natsu's. Natsu was absolutely writhing with what looked like a mixture of pain and struggling to get free and lunge at this lunatic with all the fury of a Dragon Slayer. However, the figure didn't let him go. Cries of pain were heard from every remaining guild member, and Natsu yelled through gritted teeth.

"You..." More screams of pure pain. And then it went silent.

"Yes, me. Your greatest nightmare."

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"NO! Stop it!" Natsu yelled, eyes full of tears. This was truly his greatest fear.

Every one of the people he cared about, was being murdered before his eyes. Carla, Wendy, Erza and Gray all hung limply next to Makarov, not breathing, swaying with the slight breeze. And every time he tried to shut his eyes, a searing pain forced his eyes open again. Dammit.

Only Happy and Lucy remained.

"You've got a special connection with these two, don't you Dragneel?" The mouth under the hood seethed. Without waiting for a response, the voice continued, "Not that I even care. However, that will be all the better for me, watching you watch your friends die, then joining them!" The figure cackled again. This guy was seriously a psychopath, all the more reason to break free of these damn things and make him pay. Natsu struggled some more, but no use, these things were holding him like a fly tacked to a wall.

"No! I won't let you!"

"I'd like to see you even try."

Before Natsu could even retort, the figure had pulled forth a giant blade and held it up to Happy and Lucy's neck.

"Any last words?" The figure said maliciously.

There was a small silence before Happy spoke.

"Natsu," Happy began, " please promise me you'll enjoy the worlds yummiest fish for me, okay?" He smiled.

"No, Happy, don't talk like that, you'll get to eat those fish yourself-"

"Natsu." Lucy whispered in a raspy voice.

Whatever Lucy was about to tell him he didn't really want to hear. He wanted to get free, pound this lunatic, and revive everyone. But as yet another tear streaked down his cheek, he knew that that was a lost cause now.

"What?"

The figure raised the blade.

"I just wanted to say I-"

The figure swung down.

And then everything went black.

"Wake up, Natsu. Please."

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Natsu opened his eyes, sat up, and immediately screamed, "Lucy!"

"What? I'm right here." And there she was. Safe and sound. Smiling at him. And he wasn't on a battle plain, but back in her bed in Magnolia.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? How did you come back? And-"

Natsu paused mid-sentence. Lucy looked confused, like he was speaking a foreign language.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

"It's okay."

There was a small silence.

"Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"What was the last adventure we went on?"

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"You really don't remember?"

Lucy seemed puzzled. Then she sighed.

"The last adventure we went on was when we battled Tartaros. Then you proceeded to try and leave for a year, not telling anyone but me. After about three days, you and Happy decided to stay at an inn in Hargeon. While you were asleep, someone broke in and put some very powerful sleep magic on you. Happy was able to wake up and escape with you uninjured all the way back to here. I've been caring for you for about a week now, waiting for you to wake up, and now you have."

"So the whole thing with Avatar, the Alvarez Empire, and with the Hundred Year Mission, it was all a dream?"

"Yes." That all sounded like gibberish to her, but Lucy was not going to interrogate Natsu on his crazy dreams.

"Natsu!" The familiar voice of a blue flying cat was heard as something fuzzy rammed into Natsu's chest.

"Happy!" Natsu hugged his friend tighter as he spoke:

"Don't ever scare me like that again! I knew you would be tough, but for a while, you really had me worried!"

Natsu and Lucy chuckled. Poor Happy, getting so riled up.

"C'mon Natsu, everyone at the guild hall wants to see you." Lucy said impatiently.

Happy flew up into the air as Natsu put on his vest and wrapped his white scarf around his neck.

"Ready!" He exclaimed.

They exited Lucy's apartment, and then began to jog toward the ruins of Guild Hall.

They ran past the overfilled carts of the town market, and past the beautiful tree in the South Magnolia Park. They ran past all of the people, the faces and finally, they arrived on the front steps of the guild-crater. Both Natsu and Lucy glanced at each other, and then raced to meet their awaiting guildmates.

 **So Yes, That is the turn I would take if I was writing Fairy Tail. I'm sorry if I made spelling errors or the story's confusing, but I have a lot of ideas and I needed to start by making like two arcs part of Natsu's dream. Also sorry if the story's just bad, but this is my first fanfic that I've ever written, so I lack a lot of experience.**

 **Also, review and follow if you want to, I'm probably going to add more to this story anyway, just because. Thank You For Reading!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	2. Chapter 547: Return

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the story idea is mine, so that's that.**

Erza marched down the streets of Magnolia in a furious huff. A dark aura emitted all around her body, making her look so threatening, most people got scared and looked away. Every footstep Erza took let out a echo, to which made her seem all the more scary. But, Erza had a reason to be enraged.

"Umm, Erza? Can you calm down a bit, you're really freaking out some of these people-" said a voice from behind her. Erza stopped and looked back over her shoulder and remembered her other two companions, that were currently running and trying to catch up with her.

"Do you want to talk about it with Gray-sama and me?" Juvia asked as they met up with Erza. They were both panting, so Erza let them rest for a moment. She sighed.

"I'm just still so furious about the recent leave of some of our friends."

Gray looked revolted, and Juvia let out a disappointed sigh and shook her blue hair. Days before, Natsu and Happy had gone missing, and left one note telling that they was leaving for a year to train. Lucy, who the note had gone to, told the whole guild immediately afterwards, much to the guilds surprise and anger.

" Is this a prank you kids are trying to pull on us? Because if it is, quit joking-"

"I'm not lying, here's the note right here." Lucy said, and held up a piece of crumpled paper with Natsu's chicken scratch handwriting all over it. There was a shocked silence, then an uproar of rage.

"How could he leave us?" Wendy began to cry.

"He could've been a real man and at least told us what his plans were." Elfman muttered.

"Let me find the fire-brain and teach him some manners-" Gray said menacingly, the air around him getting suddenly cold.

"Not if I find him first and blast him from this damned earth!" Laxus warned, electricity surrounding his body like some kind of magnet.

This kind of talk was communicated around the remains of the guild hall for a while, each member saying what they would do to Natsu if he even dared to show his face there ever again. All except one member, one scarlet mage in the back of the party, not saying a thing while munching on a slice of strawberry cake.

"Erza, you okay?" Mira asked her scarlet haired friend. She instantly hoped that Erza's mind was somewhere else, because she was giving the look that Natsu and the others had dubbed, "The Death Glare." Anyone who got that look from Erza was as good as dead, or at least was in for a good wallop and a week of being Erza's personal punching bag. Erza looked up from her cake and said to Mira without looking in her eyes,

" I just hate this. All of our guild filled with hatred and heartbreak only because of the foolish actions of someone they all care about. Nothing more, nothing less." There was a pause, where Mira noticed a single tear stream down Erza's face, then in an evenly more gravelly tone, she choked, " We shouldn't be angry with him, we should forgive him. Everyone makes mistakes, big and small. Natsu is no exception. Families fight and argue, but eventually they forgive. Why can't we?"

Every one of the guild members had paused what they were doing to look at Erza. She was crying. The great Titania. And suddenly, everyone shared her perspective, and were all willing to forgive. Not without a good punch first though.

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This was what was on Erza, Juvia, and Gray's minds as they all fell in step with one other on their way back to the shabby-looking tent they now called their guild hall. All the emotion was overbearing, and the trio walked up the remains of the lawn of their only home with sadness in their hearts. That was until, they heard the voice.

"This is the most delicious fire in all of Fiore! Thanks Mira!"

"Aye Sir!"

Natsu? Happy?

The trio pumped their legs toward the sound of their friends voices. The whole guild was surrounding a person. A familiar head of salmon hair belonged to that person.

"Natsu!"

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The sun shone brightly on the streets of Magnolia. People bustled in and out of shops. Women chatted on the sides of the road, discussing gossip and other things.

The whole town seemed to be chipper. But no place was happier than the Fairy Tail Guild Hall.

One week had passed since the return of one of the guilds most treasured members and his blue furred comrade. After explaining the whole bit about Natsu's attempt to train for a year, and after a few wallops from Erza and Gray, everyone seemed to be at peace or better again. The whole guilds mood seemed happier, and as Mira cleaned mugs from behind the makeshift counter she had built, she could see that the development of the new guild hall was going smoothly. Mira smiled as A brunette mage walked over to the counter and began to complain.

"God, this heat is so damned brutal." Cana exclaimed, clearly over exaggerating, " nothing a little 'sake can't fix! Come to Mama!"

Mira giggled and handed Cana a barrel of her favorite ale. Cana smiled and immediately began drinking it. After about a minute of chugging, Cana wiped her mouth and said, " Ah, much better." She set the barrel back on the counter, empty, and Mira put it back behind the counter as Cana began,

"So where's Flame Face the Ditcher? Did he pull a fast one and leave us again?"

Mira giggled. " No, he didn't. I believe he's on a job right now."

"The damn lazy oaf, doesn't want to help rebuild the guild hall is all!"

"Well no, not exactly." Mira sighed, "He did try to help, but let's just say our little Natsu is better at wrecking things than building them. So, a few days ago, I sent him on this job instead." She pulled a flier from behind the counter and handed it to Cana.

"Elfman, Lisanna, And I were planning to do this job after the guild got back on its feet, but seeing as how the poor guy had nothing else to do, I gave it to him." She pulled out a clean rag and began to wipe out another cup. Cana looked up from the flier and set it on the counter.

"You sure you're not underestimating him? Catching criminals sounds easy enough for even someone like me to do, much less Natsu."

"Yeah, I know-"

"And another thing that bugs me is that he went alone-"

"I think Lucy and Happy went with him." Mira interrupted. Cana paused for a minute before responding:

"Lucy and Happy, eh. Boy, isn't that a trip down memory lane."

Mira nodded. She remembered when Natsu had first brought Lucy to the guild, the look of wonder when Mira first put the Fairy Tail Emblem on her hand, and the exhaustion Lucy had expressed to her after returning from her first mission on Mount Haboke. Mira smiled, as the same blonde mage and her companions strolled in through the rubble of the entryway.

"Hey Mira!" Lucy said as she and Natsu sat down on the roughed up stools on the other side of the bar.

"Hey Guys!" Mira responded, sticking a fish in front of Happy, handing a now lit torch to Natsu, and a raspberry parfait to Lucy. "All of your usuals." Happy mouthed something that sounded like a thank you to Mira, and she smiled. Some of the workers had noticed the arrival of Natsu and the others, and had walked over to where the team was now sitting.

"So how did the job go, you too?" Asked Wendy, who was getting a sip of water from Mira.

"It was great!" Natsu exclaimed, his mouth full of fire.

"With that, I have to agree." Lucy stated, taking a break from her parfait to talk, "We had to return a couple of runaway teenagers to our employer."

"But I thought that the flier said you were catching criminals?" Cana asked curiously.

"The flier didn't lie. The two kids were wizards, and kept robbing caravans headed for the capital, which wasn't the really bad part. The bad part was, our employer was having classified information shipped to her from the Magic Council, and the kids stole it, so we had to get it back."

"Yeah, as soon as we beat them they cried like sore losers, and we dragged them back to our employers house. Our employer turned out to be their mom though, and they got a more vicious scolding than I think even Erza could give." Natsu cast a glance over at Erza, who was bossing around several guild members on how to rebuild the building, and shuddered.

"The flier didn't mention anything about a reward either. How did she pay you guys?" Mira questioned.

Our employer was a little tight on jewels, so instead she told us a little about the sleep spell that was cast on Natsu by that mysterious burglar and-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Happy paused shoving his face to cut Lucy off, "you left something out."

"I did?" Lucy asked innocently. She was apparently trying to change the subject, "but anyway the spell was called-"

Happy cut her off again, "Yeah, that part that happened when I was gone while you and Natsu were fighting those kids."

As soon as Happy finished his sentence, both Lucy and Natsu flushed a deep crimson color. They turned to look at each other, then whipped their heads around to avoid making eye contact with each other.

"I...don't know... what...you're... talking about." Lucy studdered. Natsu remained silent, with an extremely embarrassed look plastered on his face. Happy and Mira giggled like giddy schoolgirls, Wendy and Carla exchanged looks of surprise, and Cana nearly choked on thin air. The duo remained silent, as if stone statues had replaced their bodies in a matter of seconds. After a moment of silence, Lucy regained some of her courage, and managed to be able to speak again,

"Like I was saying, the spell that was used on Natsu was called "The Devil's Dream." It's a lot like Midnight's magic, except this kind of magic is illegal. It makes the victim of the spell live all of their nightmares, and the spell only ends when the victims worst fear is revealed to them in dream form. It could have been a lot worse for Natsu, but luckily when Happy woke up it distracted the caster, so it wasn't a complete spell. If it was, Natsu could have been driven to insanity."

"Not that he isn't already insane." Came the gravelly voice of a certain Iron Dragon Slayer. Natsu came out of whatever trance he was in and immediately retorted.

"You wanna say that to my face, drill bit?"

"I'll say loud and proud if you call me that again, Magma Mouth." Gajeel mocked. The two stood locked in a menacing gaze for a moment, then began to plummel each other left and right. Lucy sighed, and then felt a hand tightly grasp her shoulder.

"So Lucy, What was this "part" that happened between you and Natsu on this mission? You never got around to telling us." Cana smiled maliciously over her shoulder. Indeed, all of the girls, now including Juvia and Erza, were surrounding Lucy, waiting for her to tell them a juicy bit of gossip.

"I..It's..Nothing Happened. Happy's... pulling... your... leg." Stammered Lucy, face the shade of a tomato.

"It's okay, Luce, you can tell us." Said Cana, still smirking. Lucy shook her head very quick as a loud voice shouted, "Iron Dragon Sword!"

Natsu and Gajeel's little spat had now become a full-on brawl, and they were now fighting each other with full force.

"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu yelled as he kicked Gajeel in the stomach. Gajeel slid back on his heels, running into a newly built Pillar and knocking it down.

"Iron Dragon-"

"Enough!" Erza yelled at the two Dragon Slayers, giving them "The Death Glare."

"Yes ma'am." Natsu and Gajeel chimed disappointedly.

"So Lucy, what else happened on your mission?" Wendy asked.

"Well, not only did our employer provide information about "The Devils Dream," but they were also able to maybe pinpoint the guild from which the burglar might've come from." Lucy pulled out a piece of old cloth from her pocket and laid it on the counter as Natsu and Gajeel sulked over to the counter to see.

"This guild recently surfaced as an official guild, and by what our employer told us, they've got some pretty terrifying wizards in it. I haven't seen what's written on there," Lucy gestured to the cloth, "but our employer said it would come in handy in order to find the caster of the spell." Mira unfolded the cloth, and stared at it a minute before setting it on the counter facing the guild members, her face very pale. Everyone stared at it for a minute, and then Carla summed up what everyone else was thinking, "Well, this is horrifying."

On the piece of cloth was a picture of a dragon-like serpent. The tounge and teeth had been highly exaggerated, making the emblem even more threatening. But, the most frightening thing was the six words etched on the bottom of the cloth.

"The fairies will fall at the mercy of a Dragon's Fang."

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 **Hey Quick Shout-Out to my first follower! You're amazing!**

 **Sorry if these chapters have been a little gory or sad, but that's the "Devil's Dream" spell for you, and also the pain of losing Natsu and Happy really took a toll on the guild, so had to make that part sad.**

 **Make sure to write a review and follow! Thanks for reading! :)**

 **-BetaTest401**


	3. Chapter 548: Gray's Vision

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the story idea is mine, so that's that.

"The fairies will fall at the mercy of a Dragon's Fang."

After Carla spoke, the silence of the dead followed. No one threatened the most powerful guild in Fiore and lived, or at least lived without shame. But for someone to outrightly insult Fairy Tail without even a trace of a signature had real guts.

"Cowards," everyone was saying in their heads. The silence continued for a few minutes more, and then was broken by a voice. The man who the voice belonged to had raven hair, and navy eyes that made his white coat and black pants stand out.

"Hey, what's going o-" Gray began. His eyes fell on the paper, on the emblem, and finally on the words etched on the bottom. He was silent at first, just staring at the paper. Then, in a blink of an eye, his knees gave way from under him. His body hit the ground with a soft thump. Everyone stirred to look worriedly at the fallen body of the ice-mage, and a few immediately took action and knelt by Gray's side.

"Popsicle Princess, wake up!" Natsu told Gray as he and Erza lifted him onto the counter where everyone had moved out of the way. Concerned looks were thrown at Gray's lifeless body as a blanket was draped over his chest, revealing only his face. The face that usually had a smile or a joking smirk, now had a expression of nothing but a face of writhing pain, and the shade of his face was that of porcelain. He looked like a clay doll, expressionless and unmoving. Juvia was having a panic attack and crying, saying things like,

"What did that do to my Gray-sama?"

Mira wet a rag and handed to Erza, who began to dab Gray's head with the cool water. As the rag touched his forehead, he stirred a little and a stifled little whisper escaped his lips so that only Erza could hear,

"Quin..."

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"Natsu, could you please stop pacing, it's driving me nuts." Lucy scolded him, annoyed.

Benches and stools had been placed in a rough circle under the guild-tent. Wendy, Carla and Erza sat at one, all of them in deep thought, the red-head with her head between her hands. Cana was chugging a barrel of ale like it was the last one in Fiore, Happy right next to her munching on yet another, and larger, fish. Gajeel had left to go work on the building, and was replaced by Levy, who was sitting next to Lucy. Juvia and Mira were in the center of the circle, tending to Gray with glum expressions on their mouths. This had been their positions for at least half an hour. Natsu stopped pacing and walked over to the bench Lucy and Levy were sitting at to take the empty spot on Lucy's right. Happy finished his fish and flew over to Natsu and sat on his lap, as Erza lifted her head and said,

"It just doesn't make any sense." Everyone looked at her with probably the sam thought in their heads.

"First, Natsu gets attacked in Hargeon by an unknown individual-"

"Then a threat is given to our guild of all places by an unfamiliar guild-" Levy continued.

"And know one of the most powerful mages in our guild has fallen just by looking at a piece of cloth, for an unknown reason." Erza finished, "They don't hardly even connect." Everyone sighed.

"Wait. Lucy, did Natsu act like this when the Devil's Dream was cast on him?" Wendy asked, coming out of the trance she was in.

"No," Lucy replied shaking her head, "Natsu tossed, turned and thrashed when the spell was in effect. Not motionless like this." Another sigh from the guild members, and a silence.

"He's just knocked out, I went to go ask Porlyusica about his symptoms," said the voice of Makarov, who had just come through the entrance of the tent carrying a beet-like ingredient. "She gave this to me and said that if we grind this up and put in his mouth, it should speed up the process of his wake." Mira nodded, took the root from the master and immediately began to chop it up on the counter. Juvia watched intently from the other side.

"Master," Wendy timidly asked over the sounds of the knife hitting the counter, "this isn't because of his new Devil Slayer Magic is it?" Mira had minced the root now, handed it to Juvia, who put the powder in her beloved's mouth.

"No. Porlyusica said it was something internal, but it had nothing to do with his magic." More sighes.

"Well, we can't just sit here!" Natsu suddenly stood up and exclaimed. That shook everyone around him up. "Let's all get building or do a job! Then we can rub it in Ice-Prick's face-" Lucy stood up and forcefully covered Natsu's mouth so his next words were muffled.

"For once in my damned life I actually agree with the boy." Said Makarov, much to the offense of Natsu, "A few of you should go to Blue Pegasus and see if they've heard of this new guild, and a few of you stay here and help the rebuilding of the guild hall. That way, we'll see if that threat was just a hoax." Makarov scowled and the others nodded in agreement with his plan.

"Okay, so who's going where?"

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"Well that was a waste of time." Natsu complained as the party walked past the shops of Pegasus Village.

Indeed it had been. After the three hour caravan ride there, where the group composed of Lucy, Happy and Erza had to endure Natsu's motion sickness, they arrived at the hot spring town, full of hope that it would be a successful trip. Nope. Bob, Blue Pegasus' master was gone to a spa weekend, and all the facts that Ichiya knew was that Erza had a lovely "parfum." Hibiki, Wren, Eve and Jenny shuffled around the guild trying to find something to help, but were just as useless. At the end, nothing new was obtained other than a large bump on Ichiya's head from Erza, and a dinner party from Blue Pegasus in which everyone had to dress up. Not very helpful. So, the frustrated and exhausted group had decided to stay the night at the inn in the town and head home the next morning. They trudged down the street until the inn was in sights. The innkeeper gave them all a room to share with multiple beds, and about an hour after the sun had set, all of them were sitting in their beds, trying not to fall asleep.

"Well, at least I got a yummy fish while we were there from Nichiya." Happy said proudly, laying down his head.

"Shut up, cat. You're the only one that benefitted from this whole endeavor." Lucy grumpily mouthed and slammed her head into a pillow, where she fell asleep.

"Hehe. Hey, Erza. We should draw a big 'ol mustache on Lucy's face while she's asleep." Natsu Said, only half awake. All that returned his comment were snores.

"You know what, sleep sounds better." Natsu decided, and laid down for the night as well. There were no more sounds in the room all throughout the moonlit night, minus the sound of Erza's snores.

##########################################################

At the crack of dawn the next morning, the fully re-energized party started on their way back to Magnolia. Of course, now they had to walk because of Natsu's constant complaining, but they made good time, and the town was in sights after about four hours of walking.

"My feet hurt." Lucy complained as the party walked down the main road that led to the guild hall. The truth was, all of their feet were sore, but the motivation to see if Gray was well again was what was driving them to keep going. That was how it was for The Fairy Tail Guild, no one was left behind. The party was now at a running pace, despite the pain in their feet, to see an incredible sight that now took up the giant crater. The whole guild had been rebuilt, and was now a even more colossal castle- looking building. The arch in front of the guild that headed the stony path leading to the buildings front steps had black letters on it that spelled the guild's name. There was probably two stories in all, and pillars on the top floor separated a giant window. The bricks were different shades of gray and black, and the giant wooden front doors were open. But the greatest thing was the ginormous banner that displayed the red guild emblem, much like the original guild hall had, which brought back nostalgia for all of the guild members outside as they stopped to admire it.

"Natsu, are you crying?" Lucy asked suspiciously as she followed the sound of sniffles coming from the salmon haired man.

"No!" Natsu immediately said, kind of muffled like he had a stuffy nose.

"Whatever, He was crying like a little crybaby." Happy joked.

"Shut-Up, Happy, I was not!" Natsu retorted, giving Happy a if- you-even-speak-I-will-punch-you-look. Happy sinkered, but was quiet. Erza then stepped in, giving Natsu the if - you-touch-him-I-will-kill-you look. Lucy giggled.

"Are we gonna go in or not you guys?" She asked playfully. Natsu, Happy and Erza all looked away from their stares towards the front doors, then towards Lucy and smiled, and together, they ran into their home.

######################################################

The guild barely noticed the party's return, most of them eating or chatting. The team didn't really care, they were looking at the new main room of the guild. New tables and benches sat in little rows on the right and left middle parts of the wooden floor. The bar was on the far back wall, it had new barstools as well. A giant wooden chandelier hung on the high roof, the candles on it lighting up the room. That wasn't what really surprised the team though, the two things on the right and left walls did. On the left wall sat the request board, Nab standing in front of it, as always. On the right wall, however, sat a board only Happy had seen before. The S-Class Request Board.

"Wow, Gramps put the S-Class board down here. So any old Joe could just-up and take an S-Class job?" Natsu Said half curiously, half devilishly.

"No, only S-Class wizards get S-Class jobs." Said Mira, who was holding a tray of empty beer mugs, and who had also noticed the teams arrival. "There's an enchantment surrounding the board, so that anyone who's not S-Class gets punished. Some had to learn that the hard way." She gestured over to a table where Max was sitting, spores sprouting all over his body. All that this got was a murmur of acknowledgement from the party, and then Erza asked,

"How's Gray?"

"Porlyusica just left him. Wendy and Juvia are caring for him at the moment. They're upstairs in the infirmary. Just a second, and I'll go up there with you. She retreated to the bar counter, told Lisanna and Kitana to cover her, and then beckoned to the staircase on the back right wall. The team followed her billowing pink dress up the stairs as Lucy asked a question that was plaguing everyone's minds,

"Mira, how did you guys get the guild rebuilt so fast? We were only gone for like, a day."

"Apparently, as soon as you got to Blue Pegasus, the other guild members there sent out a all-call to the other guilds, saying how the guild hall was destroyed, and next thing we knew, more than four-hundred people, plus our guild, were building. Wizards and ordinary people alike. It was wonderful."

"That's amazing! Looks like our trip to Pegasus Village wasn't completely useless after all." Natsu responded. They all reached the top of the stairs to find themselves in a hallway that had three doorways. The one at the end of the hall showed a room that held a messy desk and a exhausted Makarov, whose snores could be heard at the front and opposite end of the hall. There was a wooden sign above it that read "Master's Quarters."

They passed a room on their left with a sign that said "Library." Levy and Freed sat at the middle table, obviously doing some research on ancient spells. Levy waved at Lucy as they passed, and Lucy smiled back. There was only one more door; the middle door on the left. As the guild members came up to it, the sign above the door said "Infirmary." Mira eased the door open, to reveal a room a little smaller than the library. There were wood medicine cabinets on the same wall as the door, one of them open revealing several medicine vials. On the wall to the front of them was another large window, but velvet curtains had been drawn over it. On the left wall were two beds, one of which was occupied by a familiar Ice Devil Slayer. His face wasn't completely twisted now, but more in a serene smile. The black mark, Natsu also pointed out, had grown, now covering his forearm with black runes. Wendy and Carla sat in chairs around Gray's bed, Juvia was sitting on the bed, all of them with worried looks on their faces, and as the last of the members entered the room, and the door was shut, Wendy said,

"Glad to see you all are back safely. We wanted to wait for you before we did it."

"Did what?" Asked Natsu.

"Woke him up, silly." Wendy replied, " Porlyusica taught me a new spell, that I added as a Secret Art. But, We thought he should see all of his friends when he awakes. Gather around." They all moved farther into the room, and formed a half-circle around the bed.

"Okay, here we go." Wendy grabbed a powder off the nightstand and held it in her hand as she began saying an enchantment,

"From the heavens to hell, life exists,

So reverse the curse,

That we may see his glimpse.

Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Awaken!"

A white-blue light flashed a minute and hit Gray. Nothing, at first. Then suddenly, he bolted upright, eyes as wide a saucers, and gave a small yell. He whipped his head around furiously looking around, but when he saw where he was, he gave a sigh of relief.

"Yes! My Gray-sama has returned to me!" Exclaimed Juvia, throwing her arms around Gray. He pushed her off gently.

"You okay, Frozen Fainter?" Natsu Asked sarcastically.

"Yes, I am. Not that you care, ash-for-brains."

Natsu gave Gray a look, then kinda murmured, "Since you're down, I won't throw a punch. Thank me later." They smirked at each other. Same old, same old.

Erza, however, was furious.

"Gray, what the hell happened? You were fine before you saw that cloth, and after you saw it, you fell to the ground like you legs were nonexistent!"

Gray sighed before responding, "I don't know. I saw the words and I fainted."

"But why?"

"Like I Said, I don't know. When I saw the cloth, I got this weird feeling in my stomach. Like The words were vaguely familiar, but I've never heard them in real life.

He observed his arm as everyone processed his words.

"Did anything else happen before or in your slumber that you remember?" Asked Mira, after a moment of silence.

"Yes, but it's a long story."

"We've got all day, tell us." Erza commanded. Everyone grabbed a chair from around the infirmary, or sat on the bed, then leaned forward in anticipation to hear what the brunette had to say. Gray sighed again, adjusted the pillows behind his back so he could lean on them while sitting up and then began,

"Okay. Here's What I Saw."

##########################################################

"I felt my body hit the ground, and then the dream started. For a while, it was constant white, a never-ending oblivion. Then my vision focused and I saw I was standing on a green, grassy field. The field was on a hill, and There was a town in the distance. A fair sized log house was behind me, and in front of that was a cherry blossom tree that I was pretty close to. I tried walking, but I ran into a barrier, an invisible wall, that prevented me from going anywhere. I was stuck there, kind of lost in thought about what I should do, when I heard a high pitched voice. I then noticed, a very young girl in front of the tree, and a woman under the tree, eating an apple. The woman had black, straight hair that fell to her waist, and was wearing a beige dress. The little girl was probably four or five, had shoulder high ebony hair, and was wearing a blue shirt, gray pants, and little creme boots. The woman was watching the little girl pick flowers and run around singing little tunes, when footsteps started coming toward the tree. I heard little running feet and the little girls voice yell,

"You're back!"

She jumped on a fairly tall man and he caught her, embracing her as he did so. He swung her around once and then carried her over to the woman, which was presumably his wife. He kissed her, put down the little girl, then sat next to his wife under the cherry blossom tree. The little girl skipped in a circle a few times, then asked the two adults,

"You guys, do you want me to do a trick for you?"

They both smiled, then said, "Of course, little Quin." The little girl smiled a big grin, made a position so that her knuckled hand was in her palm, raised her arms, then yelled,

"Ice Make: Butterfly!"

Immediately, two frozen butterflies shot from her fingertips. The butterflies flew around her head, then around the heads of the people who laughed and smiled.

"Do another one Equinox!" The man yelled playfully. The little girl giggled, then proceeded to make an Ice Make: Beagle, Rabbit, and Robin. The people laughed every time. Finally the little girl came up to both of them with her hands behind her back.

"Surprise!" She said as she pulled a bundle of frozen roses from behind her and handed them to the woman. "I made these for you in my lessons with Master!" She proclaimed proudly. The woman sniffed them, smiled, then said,

"They smell lovely dear, thank you!" The little girl smiled.

"And for you," She pulled out her other hand from behind her back, to reveal a necklace, " I found your necklace!" The man took it from her hands, put it around his neck, then hugged the girl.

"Oh, Quin. Thank you! You're going to be amazing when the baby gets here." All of the people smiled. I then realized the woman was pregnant, and she blushed when the man mentioned it. The little girl settled in between the two people, and then said enthusiastically,

"Yeah! We'll be like a big, happy family!"

"Yes, we will."

##############################################################

Everyone was silent for a minute after Gray finished. He took a sip of water from Juvia, Then Lucy asked her question,

"Did anything seem familiar to you in any way?"

"That is one of the biggest mysterys of them all, though."

"How so?" Erza Asked.

Gray breathed in, then held up the necklace around his neck.

"What I saw was when this necklace was given back to my father, Silver Fullbuster, three days before I was born."

##########################################################

 **Dun-Dun-Dun! Suspense!**

 **Thank you to all of my new followers, and to my first favoriter. I'm giving you a FT hand symbol on the other side of the screen!**

 **Also, Happy Valentines Day 2018, hope you're having/had a great one! A bit of a warning though, I suffer from a condition called writers block, so it may be a while before I post again, and when I do, the next few chapters will be pretty slow, so yeah, don't get too excited! And yes, I know Gray's necklace is a reference to Rave Master, but because it's true purpose was never revealed in the manga or anime, I have another use for it. (Mwah-ha-ha)**

 **As always, leave a review (how you feel, suggestions, conspiracy, and even criticism is accepted) and feel free to follow or favorite!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	4. Chapter 549: Natsu's Plan

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the story idea is mine, so that's that.**

"What? How? You weren't even alive! And how do you know that guy was you father? Eh? Or that that chick was your mom? Eh?" Natsu interrogated Gray, yelling in his face.

"Like I Said, I don't know. This weird gut feeling." Gray said. Natsu started chuckling like a maniac, then said,

"Bullshit, that's what this is!" Natsu laughed.

"Natsu, do us all a favor and please, shut your mouth." Said Erza and Mira in unison, both trying their hardest not to kill the fire-breather on the spot.

"Yeah, we don't even know if what Gray saw is truth or lies." Lucy scolded.

"Lucy, you don't actually believe him, do you?" Happy scoffed.

"Kind of. I mean, I'll stay neutral until we find out the truth, so yes, but no." Natsu stopped laughing, looked back and forth between Lucy and Gray, then said,

"Well, when you say it so brilliantly, it's too hard not to agree." Lucy blushed.

"Wow, you two really are dumb." Happy mocked, "I guess that happens when two people are so in love with each other. Hehe." He made sure to emphasize the o in love, both mages blushed, then Lucy immediately retorted,

"Shut up, Cat!" Everyone laughed. Natsu laughed again.

"Well Happy, I guess that makes your IQ about a two, because of how in love with Carla you are!" He joked. Both Exceeds blushed, as everyone else laughed, minus the red headed requip mage, who was now positively shaking with fury.

"How can all you morons be so carefree right now?! What happened to Gray and what he saw is no laughing matter! We should study harder and train more than ever before because of it! So think, use those brains of yours, how do these things connect?"

######################################################

Everyone got serious after Erza's outburst, and after everyone cooled off and got over the shock of it all, Erza said,

"Good. This is how it should be when such pressing matters, such as this one, occur." She gave a small nod of approval, then turned to Gray.

"Are you absolutely certain that the adults were your parents?"

"Yes."

"And you're positive that you've never seen the girl in your life?"

Gray hesitated before answering, "Never. She's a total stranger."

"I see." Erza put her hand on her chin, like she was thinking.

"Have you ever been to the place you saw in your dreams?" Wendy asked timidly after a minute.

"Not that I can recall. There was nothing familiar about the dream other than my parents." Stunned silence followed, and after a few quiet moments, Lucy said,

"You should probably get up now, Gray. The whole guild's holding their breath to see if you're okay, and I think we all need some time to process our current situation."

#########################################################

Gray nodded, and swept his legs over to the side of the bed as everyone started to file out of the room. As he stood up, Juvia reached out her arm, and reluctantly, the help was granted. The last thing Mira heard as she shut the door to the infirmary was the exclamation of the ice- mage,

"Let go of me woman! I just needed help getting up!"

"No, Juvia will never let her Gray-sama ever leave her side ever again! We'll be together forever!" The door shut with a soft click as an alarmed cry of the raven haired man sounded as he struggled to get away from his clingy crush. The members in the hallway heard the cry, and without even asking Mira, Lucy said,

"She'll never learn, will she?" Mira giggled and nodded no. They all walked down the hallway, past the now empty library, where the beautiful coral sunset could now be seen through the windows. The stairs creaked slightly with the weight of several people, as they all made their way down. Mira went back to her post as barmaid, and the remaining members, Wendy, Carla, Erza, Natsu and Happy, sat at a table, some with their head in their hands, some just staring off into space.

"I'm gonna go get us some snacks." Lucy said to everyone at the table, and a little bit later she returned with a few iced teas, a fish for Happy, and a bowl of spicy noodles for Natsu. Everyone took the refreshments gratefully, Happy hungrily chomping at his fish. The only one who hadn't touched anything was Natsu, who had been staring at the same spot on the wall for twenty minutes, completely ignoring the steaming bowl in front of him. Juvia and Gray came down the stairs shortly afterwards, Gray, of course, half-naked as usual, and Juvia, of course, trailing him like a lost puppy. Gray noticed Natsu right away and immediately jested,

"What's up with you, Dragon Demolisher? Did the ashes in your brain tell you that eating noodles would give you a disease, or what?" He chuckled, but then received a fiery blow to the face.

"Shut up, Frozen Princess! Don't you know I'm trying to think about how to help you?!" Natsu angrily said. Gray rubbed his jaw, then both he and Natsu sat on the opposite sides of the table, Natsu back in deep thought, Gray muttering something about "freezing the Salamander's brain." A few more moments of silence followed, then Wendy gave a sigh of exasperation and Carla said,

"It just doesn't make any sense."

"Gray, did your parents have any siblings? Maybe the girl was your cousin." Lucy suggested.

"No, my mother's sister died when she was young, and my father was an only child."

"You said you were an only child, right?" Erza questioned.

"Yes."

"Did your childhood house look anything like the one in the vision?" Happy asked.

"No, we lived in a village." Silence, then a voice.

"Hmmm. You kids seem hard at work, mind if I join you?" Makarov asked. Juvia nodded, and the master sat Indian style on the table with his head resting in his hand. Time passed like molasses after that. After about two more hours of thinking and dead end ideas, everyone had his or her head on the table, either asleep or halfway to that point. The sun had gone down already, and the guild was emptying out to the point where the thinking members were like a colorful splotch in the brown room.

"Hey guys, can we please g-"

"I've got it!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly, standing and waking up everyone around him. He laughed like he had just had an epiphany, then said, "It was right in front of my face this whole time! Let me tell you all, no, you know what, it's late. Everyone, meet me in the library tomorrow morning! Oh boy!" He grabbed the bowl of the now cold noodles and slurped them down quickly, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

Everyone sleepily nodded, and started moving toward the doors. Lucy summoned Plue to keep her awake on the walk home, then flopped down onto her bed and fell right to sleep when she arrived. She was surprised that the familiar fire Dragon Slayer wasn't laying next to her, but she was grateful that he wasn't, or she'd have to go through the trouble to kick him out herself at this hour. But, she kind of missed the warm imprint he left on her bed when he laid on it, it was like laying on fresh, sun dried laundry.

"But, it's okay." She whispered to herself, and as she drifted off sleep, she wondered what potentially ridiculous plan Natsu's pea sized brain had come up with.

#########################################################

At seven in the morning the following day, Lucy awoke from her pleasant slumber in quite a good mood. The sun had begun to rise, illuminating the buildings in Magnolia with a pink glow. She stretched, then entered her bathroom to shower and dress. She picked out a indigo tank and a three quarter sleeved sky-blue jacket with a collar to put on. She replaced her normal blue skirt with a pair of very short acid-stained denim shorts, and wore her black combat boots like she always did. She summoned Cancer, who gently combed her hair and bangs to perfection and put her hair in its traditional hairstyle, pigtails with blue ribbons. After he returned to the Spirit World, She fastened her heart earrings in her ears and a silver chain around her neck, and left her apartment to get to Natsu's Meeting. She walked along the river, then jogged the rest of the way to the guild. She was halfway curious and halfway disgusted, namely because she thought that Natsu's plan was probably a waste of time or just simply ridiculous, like Gray ate too much cheese or something.

"Oh, what the hell!" She thought, " I got the best sleep last night, so who cares if this is a waste!" She smiled and reached her arms out to the sides as she ran, the wind whipping through her fingertips like smooth silk. She finally reached the guild hall, the risen sun had cast a bright glow on the front stoop. She took a deep breath, then reached for the door handles. When she opened the doors, she was surprised to see she was the last member to arrive. Gray sat yawning on a bench, Juvia asleep on his shoulder. Wendy was getting something from the counter, Happy and Carla were as well. Erza was pacing endlessly, hand on her chin in thought, again, and Makarov was nowhere to be seen. But the highlight of the room was Natsu, with his traditional black and orange vest, white pants and white scarf wrapped around his neck, standing on the counter, absolutely beaming with pride.

"I don't think I've ever seen him this happy." Thought Lucy. The door shut with a thunk behind her, and Natsu smiled and beckoned her over to him and said,

"Okay everyone, gather around here if you want to hear." They all made a semicircle around Natsu.

"Okay, good. Pay attention, I'm only gonna say this once. " He cleared his throat. "We are all here to hear my idea, yes? Alright, be prepared to be astound-"

"Get on with it already!" Gray yelled.

"Okay, Okay." He muttered, then cleared his throat again, "So, we are completely useless in the idea category, right?" Everyone nodded. Natsu gave a evil laugh.

"Hehe, but my genius came up with a solution! We may be clueless, but that doesn't mean everyone else is!" Everyone looked confused.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is, we need help. So my plan is this, we must go get help. Travel to all of our neighboring guilds, I mean, and see if they know anything about this Dragon guild. We may be able to find out their guild's location, and if we're lucky, find out more on their members!"

For a minute, silence sounded. Then out of the blue, Gray boomed,

"What?! For once in his puny life, Flame Thrower had a good idea that wasn't completely absurd?!" Natsu looked highly offended.

"Wada'ya mean? At least I'm not as dumb as you, Popsicle!" The two mages shot menacing glares at one another for a minute, then the sound of creaking steps turned their attention to the foot of the stairs.

"That's some plan, Natsu." Said Makarov in a fatherly tone.

"Aw Gramps, you really mean it?" Natsu smiled while the others stood in dumbfounded wonder.

"Yes, I do. We should set it in action." Natsu was looking absolutely ecstatic as he yelled in a teasing manner to Gray,

"Hehe, even Master likes it, dummy!" Gray was too stupefied to answer. Silence for a millisecond, then,

"How do you propose we begin, Master." Asked Erza, not in a trance anymore.

"We will send a select few to each guild we have relations with, minus Blue Pegasus, because we've already been there, and see if any new information arises. The rest will stay here in case of another attack." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"And this is all thanks to me!" Natsu bragged.

Lucy giggled. "You're way too proud of yourself, Natsu." Gray gave an eye roll of disgust.

"Who will be going and when?" Asked Wendy.

Makarov hesitated. "Let's see. Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray and Happy, leave tomorrow morning. I think it's time Fairy Tail's Strongest Team reunites."

#########################################################

 **So, little bit shorter chapter than usual, but still good, right?**

 **A quick shoutout to all of the new people who follow and favorite this story!**

 **Expect short and slow chapters until probably Chapter 555-ish, and don't expect new ones to come out soon. Writers block is bad in my brain. Also, I apologize for any OOC-ness, I try my hardest to keep the characters in character as best as I can!**

 **As always, leave a review, favorite and follow! You're amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	5. Chapter 550: The First Phase

**Disclaimer** : **I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the story idea is mine, so that's that.**

"Are you kiddin' me, Gramps? Is this some sick joke? Am I hallucinating? Or am I hearing things? Because what I think you said was that you actually agree with Flame-Head and we woke up at five in the morning to do nothing for the rest of the day but pack?" Gray scoffed, perturbed. His white jacket poofed out with disbelief, revealing the dark red shirt with a gray cross contrasting to his black pants and blue sword necklace.

"That is correct, Gray. Good luck tomorrow morning!" The master smiled and began to walk up the stairs, yawning. Gray gave a absolutely dumbfounded look at the stairs, and everyone around him laughed. They all left then, back to their homes to pack. All of the necessities were packed, and in Natsu and Happy's case, extra torches, packets of spicy ramen, and dried fish were abundant. It took Lucy all day to pack, and finally, when the sun went down leaving the horizon a colored mix of dark orange and dark pink, she finished and flopped down into the chair in front of her desk. Who knew that packing was so stressful? Her mind was also abuzz with the events of the day, you could almost hear it, like the sound of bees in a hive. She breathed deeply for a few seconds, then a thought occurred to her to ease her stress. She pushed the chair in so she was facing her desk, and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil from her desk drawer.

A sigh escaped her lips as her pen hit the paper. She was about to do something she hadn't done in a long time.

"Dear Mom..."

#########################################################

"Natsu, slow down. My wings are getting tired from following you." Happy complained. The fire breather stopped walking for a minute to let his furry companion catch his breath. He didn't mean to get Happy all tuckered out before the trip even began, he just really wanted to get to Lucy's. He was in a rush for good reason.

One: He was worried that she would bail on the mission, and that wasn't right. She just had to come!

Two: There was delicious food at her house!

So after about thirty seconds of rest, Natsu half-jogged the rest of the way to Lucy's apartment. He entered through the window with a little help from an exhausted Happy, like usual. However, Lucy's bed was empty, which was unusual because she liked to sleep in most days and it was seven in the morning. The sounds of running water coming from the bathroom let Natsu know the location of his comrade, and as he looked around the room his eyes fell on a piece of paper laying on her desk. He walked over to the desk and looked at it.

"What is it?" Asked Happy, fluttering over to him.

"A letter." Replied Natsu.

"Oh, boring stuff. You have fun with that." Happy said, bored. He headed for the kitchen. Natsu began to start after him, but his eyes fell guiltily back on the letter. He picked it up again and read it to himself in front of her desk.

"Dear Mom,

How are you? Well, I hope. All is good here in Magnolia, other than the fact that I miss you terribly. My landlady is cranky as ever, and everyone at the guild is great. Natsu had an escapade, it failed miserably. He could've died, the fool! But Happy saved him, and I cared for him until he was well. After that, strange things, attacks, we think, began to occur at the guild. One strange thing, not a bad one, thank god, happened to me today, hence why I'm writing.

Natsu had a good idea!

I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. You should have seen Gray's reaction! Master approved it, all smiley-like and everything! We are leaving to execute Phase One of his plan tomorrow! I'm still astounded. But, it's the only idea we have if we want to stop these attacks. Geez, I sound like Aquarius!

Still, I'm proud of Natsu. Maybe he's not as dense as I thought. Maybe he'll start to notice other stuff too... nah, he'll always be dense to those kinds of things. Will write again!

Love,

Lucy"

"What're you doing?!" Lucy's yell distracted Natsu, whose mind was thinking of what "things" Lucy was speaking of. She saw the paper.

"Hey, gimme that! That's not your business!" She snatched the paper from his hand and held it close to her bust. She had on the same outfit as the day before, only her hair was more carefully done today, tied in pigtails.

"Luce, I-"

"Don't Luce me! Ask before you read my stuff!" She gave Natsu a dark look. Happy flew into the room with food in his mouth.

"Morning Lucy!"

"And ask before you clean out my pantry!" Lucy thundered.

"Yes ma'am." The two boys chorused.

#########################################################

 _Click._ The door to Lucy's apartment shut, and the trio exited the door towards the South Magnolia Park, where the party was supposed to meet. Children ran along the sides of the road, laughing and chasing each other, while adults jabbered and carried out their daily work. The sun had risen, making the sky light up light-blue. The Sakura trees shook a little from the breeze that blew through the park as Natsu, Lucy, and Happy arrived. They took a minute to enjoy the scenery, then began to walk on the path that wound through the park to see if the other two were there. Lucy began to smile and giggled.

"What?" Asked Natsu. Lucy pointed to the tree at the center of the park.

"That. Remember when you dug it up for me when I was sick so I could see the blossoms?" Natsu shuddered. He remembered alright. He also remembered having to pay an enormous fine to the mayor, and having to spend two weeks re-planting it to perfection.

"But it was worth it, just to see her smile." Natsu thought. He quit shuddering and smiled back at Lucy. Happy also smiled and nervously laughed. They all kept walking, but not on the path, but to the Rainbow Sakura, and sat underneath it. Natsu handed Lucy and Happy apples from his pack, and the three of them sat under the sacred tree until everyone else had arrived shortly after.

"Are we ready?" Asked Erza. Everyone nodded.

Natsu's plan had began.

#########################################################

"Let's firstly head for Margaret Town. Aside from Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale has insight into this kind of thing. After that, we can come back here to report anything we find out." Everyone nodded again in agreement. As soon as the renting yard was in sights, however, they all had to run after Natsu, who was yelling and running for dear life like a immature child. When they finally caught him, and after Erza had knocked him out completely, they all hired a magic-mobile and started on the way to Lamia Scale's hometown, with Erza as the driver. Natsu snored and drooled on Lucy's lap for the whole five hour trip, much to Lucy's disgust. The trip was silent, except the sounds of the occasional grunt from Erza in the front, or the sound of wheels going over rocks, or the sound of snores.

"The silence is good." Thought Gray as he continued to stare blankly out of the window as he had been doing for the past several hours. "Gives me time to myself." But it wasn't really time to himself, not relaxing in the slightest. After telling everyone about his vision, and after Erza told everyone what word she had heard from Gray before he passed out, he was too restless to relax. That, and the single question plagued his mind.

"Why does the little girl in my vision feel so familiar?" He asked as a picture of the smiling girl entered his mind.

"Who is Quin?"

#########################################################

Erza finally announced their arrival in Margaret Town just as the sun began to set. They parked their magic mobile under a tree with powerful protective magic surrounding it, then made for the Lamia Scale's Guild Hall. The front doors were small and stone, with brass knockers in the shape of mermaid tails. Erza picked up one of these knockers and banged on the door three times. The door was opened by a scoff.

"Why, hello Gray." Said Lyon, noticing him right away. Gray scoffed back.

"Well hello to you too, Lyon." Erza said, giving a threatening look to Lyon. That made him stop being such a colossal jerk, and he gestured for them to enter and moved out of the way to the door.

"Your guild master already contacted us about your arrival via carrier pigeon, otherwise you wouldn't be allowed to go in. You're just lucky, is all." The white-haired mage mumbled before stalking into another room to the left. The group of Fairy Tail members ignored him, the tantalizing smell coming from the end of the hall was too tempting. As they walked in to the room at the end, there was a familiar voice,

"Hello guys! Wonderful to see you!"

"It's a pleasure as always, Sherria." Lucy smiled at the pink haired maiden. The mage stood up, and ran to go give Lucy a hug, which was returned.

"Oh, and hey Natsu!" Said Sherria, giving him a hug as well. This was obviously a surprise to the fire-mage, but he gave her a gentle squeeze anyway. Gray and Erza smirked smugly.

"Don't just stand there, sit before I spin you!" Came the voice of Lamia Scale's master Ooba, who was so sitting on the opposite end of the long table in the dining hall. The newcomers did as they were told. The other members of Lamia were there, but they were all too busy chatting or eating to notice the new arrivals. The members of the other guild ate their fill and chatted right along with the rest of them, as if they were one in the same guild.

"So, Sherria, I didn't know you knew Natsu and Lucy so well." Sherria finished her gulp out her mug and then said happily,

"Yeah! They got me out of a tight spot during a mission once, so I thank them with all my heart now." Smiles were returned among the three wizards. This was how most of the talk was that evening, joyful with an lot of laughter. It was around ten o'clock when the question finally was asked by Erza.

"Excuse me, Master Ooba, But we didn't come here to make merry all night. You know why we're here. What can you tell us?" Ooba was silent, then said,

"Never mind that, child. Not until tomorrow." She yawned. The party had a damper on it after that. Only sounds of munching and swallowing were heard. Then later, the sound of footsteps echoed throughout the corridor as the Fairy Tail team headed to bed. They all slept soundly that night, resting for the potential great day ahead.

#########################################################

The sunrise the next day shaded the hilltops around Margaret Town with a beautiful lavender color. It was so early, not even birds were chirping. The sounds of laughter and chatting had not yet began in the town. Only one sound could be heard, and that was the sound of footsteps crunching maple leaves. The feet belonged to an unknown figure in a light blue cloak with snow fox trim. Who was it? A member of the guild Fairy Tail was seeking. The opposing guild knew that Fairy Tail would pull some scheme to get revenge on the assaults given to them, a cliche and expected thing for them to do. However, the rivals of the Fairy Tail weren't going to make that easy. The only people who knew the location of their guild was the Magic Council, and that thought hadn't occurred to the members of Fairy Tail yet. They may learn a few scattered facts here and there from the other legal guilds, but because the rival guild had just become legal, there were only a few visitors.

"The thought to ask the Magic Council will come to them soon." Said the figure to itself, "As of right now, all we can do is leave clues." The figure arrived at the door to Lamia Scale with the sound of a mouse, and entered the door with such speed on might assume they were a ghost. The figure creeped down the hallway, to the room where the members of Fairy Tail were sleeping. The door barely creaked as the figure crept into the room, and to the jacket that belonged to a certain ice mage on the bed nearest to the door who was asleep. The figure snatched the piece of parchment from the cloak and whispered to the paper as if they were speaking to a person,

"Give them the second." As if to respond, the writing on the paper glowed a bright light blue, then faded back to black as new words appeared on the parchment in the same fine writing. The figure slipped the paper back into the breast pocket of the coat, and then cooed quietly,

"I will see you soon enough, Fairies." Then they slipped out through the door to the room, and the door to the guild hall, and silent as a serpent they headed back to the place from which they came.

Fairy Tail's Newfound Rival Had Struck Again.

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 **Mwahaha! The anticipation, eh? Who was the figure and what message did they leave on the paper? You'll have to find out!**

 **Really quick, a special shoutout to a fan, Deboo, for being the first to ever comment on Beyond Chapter 545. I loved hearing that you liked the story and wanted more! Will try to write on a consistent basis for all you readers out there. Yes, you!**

 **As always, review, (criticism, ideas, conspiracy etc.) follow, and favorite! You're all amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	6. Chapter 551: Gourd's Tale

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the fanfic idea is mine, so that's that.**

"C'mon, Lucy! We're all waiting for you!" Said Natsu from the doorway as Lucy struggled to put on her boot. "Ooba is gonna be ticked if we don't get there, like now."

"I know, I'm trying!" Lucy exclaimed, exasperated. She finally managed to put her foot in the shoe and buckle it. After almost face-planting while tripping over Gray's luggage, she and Natsu raced to the spot they were told to meet Ooba. The letter had specifically said:

"Fairy Tail,

Meet me in Margaret Town at the Tailor's Shop at precisely 7am. If you're late, I'll spin you!

Ooba

P.S.

Bring the parchment-cloth, or I'll spin you again!"

Quick as a flash, Natsu and Lucy were pumping their legs toward the village.

Because frankly, neither of them wished to endure the Old Hag's spinning wrath.

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After about ten minutes, they arrived at the run-down blue building that was the Margaret Town Tailor Shop. They had barely noticed the strange looks that they were getting from the townspeople, or the fact that the rusty sign hanging above the door was on its last limb, just barely hanging from a rope and swaying in the wind. They were in too much of a hurry. They threw open the door, just barely sliding in at 7.

"You barely arrived in time, I'm surprised." Said Gray, who was standing next to Erza admiring the wares of the shop. He didn't even have to look away to know that his comrades had come in the front door, that was how they always entered. However, there was no retort from Natsu, he was positively shaking with pain.

"Oww, Lucy. You stepped on my toe!"

"Shut up you big crybaby, I didn't do it on purpose! You're a big boy, just get over it!"

"I have feelings, too, ya know, and pain receptors."

"Oh, come on. It didn't even hurt that bad." The celestial wizard bent over to inspect the now red foot of the Dragon Slayer.

"Yes, it did! You don't even kno-"

"Enough!" Erza shouted at the two, giving them the Death Glare. They immediately stopped, glared at each other for a second, then the two began to observe the shop's interior. It was bigger on the inside than it looked. Beautiful silk and cotton garments adorned mannequins all around the shop, dresses, hoods, shirts, jackets and more. Erza was specifically looking at a strapless navy dress, while Gray was admiring the cloaks. Natsu and Lucy walked through the store completely, and then noticed a small counter from which Ooba was talking to a stubby man.

"Gourd, you don't have to be afraid of these wizards. They won't hur-"

"Are we positively certain of that?"

"Yes, you fool-"

Lucy and Natsu headed the opposite direction to avoid eavesdropping, toward Gray and Erza.

"Not to be rude to Ooba or anything, but-" Lucy began.

"But what the heck are we at a Tailor for?!" Finished Natsu.

"You act like we know, Slanty Eyes!" Retorted Gray.

"Well, you might've known if you weren't so clueless, Droopy Eyes!" Said Natsu, again locking horns with Gray. They menaced for a few minutes, then were pushed away from each other by Erza, as usual with a bump on their heads.

"No fighting in public. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." A moment of giggling from Lucy, then:

"Okay, Fairy Tail. Follow me before I spin you!" Came the voice of Lamia Scale's master, gesturing to a curtain behind the counter. The members of Fairy Tail glanced at one another, then did as they were told. The curtain whipped behind the last person, the only sound in the now empty shop.

#########################################################

This room was obviously a storage room of a sort. Boxes of all sizes were of plenty, but they had been stacked to make several small chairs and a table in the middle of the small room. The stubby man was sitting in one of the chairs. He had balding blonde hair and a blonde goatee, which were shaking along with the rest of his body. He was afraid. As the Fairy Tail members took a seat, Ooba spoke,

"I'm sorry Fairy Tail, But he'll be the only form of information I can provide for you. In fact, I hadn't even heard of this guild until Makarov told me about it. When I get back to the guild hall, I'll have the others start packing for you so you can return to Magnolia soon. Good day." Ooba exited the room, and said, " There's no reason to be afraid, Gourd. Just tell them what you saw." The man nodded.

"Oh, it was horrible!" He Said shuddering, "A few weeks ago, my buddies and I went hunting in Crocus, and we stopped at a bar to get some rest. I don't know, maybe we had a few more drinks than we should've, but we should've just stayed away from them!"

"Slow down, sir. Who? And what happened?" Asked Lucy.

"Well, while the guys and I were sitting at the bar, a group of shifty lookin' figures walked in. We were drunk, so after a bit, we went over to investigate, and flirt with the ladies. Bad idea. They saw us, and before I knew it, they'd attacked me and my buddies."

"What were their attacks like?" Asked Happy.

"Well, one of my buddies was wrapped in thorns, so he couldn't move, one was trapped in some sort of floating water, and I was frozen in ice from the shoulder down. There was three of them, but there was this dark presence all around. It was dark outside too, so I only caught glimpses of their appearances. The one who most likely made those vines was a beaut' with auburn hair. The one who made the floating water had on a fedora, so couldn't really tell what he was like, other than he was a male. The third one, however, was the most terrifyin'. They had on a cloak, so didn't know what gender they were. The figure though, they had the strongest and strangest magical presence I've ever sensed in my life. Every step they took towards me I felt like my heart quit beatin'. All they did when they arrived was say to me and my buddies, 'If you say a word to anyone about what you just heard, we'll come for you.' God, that scared the crap outta me, even though I hadn't heard anything anyway. All of the sudden they disappeared and their magic with 'em. Me and my buddies swore to keep quiet 'bout it and left to head home. Hadn't told no one 'bout what happened except Ooba, and now you."

#########################################################

Silence followed for a second after the Tailor finished. Then:

"Thank you, Mister Gourd. You were very helpful." Said Erza as all of the party members stood up. They walked out of the shop in silence toward Lamia. A person was waiting with their luggage when they arrived.

"Hey, guys. Master and I packed for you, and we took back your magic mobile. You've got a carriage now." Said a certain Wind God-Slayer. "It'll be a bit though, so let us serve you lunch before you go." The girl led them inside to the dining hall, where there was sandwiches and a room full of expectant people.

"Well? Did Gourd tell you everything?" Asked Lyon as they entered. All that the question got was a nod. Nothing else was said for the rest of the lunch.

True to Sherria's word, a caravan pulled up in front of the guild an hour later. All of the luggage was packed, and after waving goodbye to Lamia, the members were on their way back to Magnolia. Natsu had been knocked out by Erza, as usual, and finally, something was said about the day's events.

"Well, the trip wasn't totally pointless, now was it?" Said Lucy.

"I just can't believe that members of this Guild would attack innocent civilians. Apparently, they didn't want to be overheard." Said Gray, completely avoiding Lucy's statement.

"No, you're right, it was probably some scheme about the attacks on our guild. However, we kind of know what elements we're up against now, and who is the most powerful in the guild." Erza responded.

"Ice, Earth, and Water. Doesn't sound too bad." Said Gray.

"I don't know, Gray. Some plants are poisonous, so that would be a huge advantage over us. And hypothermia can kill you very quick, and-"

"We get it, Lucy." Silence for a millisecond.

"The descriptions we got of them were pretty vague too. It would be hard to spot them because of their generic appearance."

"I don't know about that either, Erza. We can all tell if a person has high magic, and if what the guy said was right, it would be like sensing Gramp's magic energy."

"Do you think the hooded guy might be their Master?" Asked Lucy.

"No, the master would have had less mercy on those poor men. The master probably was the one who gave out the order to put the "Devil's Dream" on Natsu, and who cursed that paper that bewitched you, Gray." Said Erza. But Gray's mind was elsewhere.

"Is something burning?" He asked aloud, noticing that his chest was beginning to get warmer than usual. Also, it felt like something was vibrating right over his heart, like the organ had gone berserk.

"No," Erza said, confused, while staring at Gray. Her eyes fell toward his jacket.

"Gray, is your jacket glowing?" Gray looked down. Right where his heart was located, a bright yellow glow was peeking out of the seams. Gray unbuttoned his jacket, which made the light grow even brighter, and attract the attention of Lucy. He pulled out the piece of parchment, which was in his inside pocket, and was the source of light from which now lights of all colors were shooting from. He blindly unfolded the paper, and as the lights slowly dimmed, he gaped.

"I don't believe it, there's more writing."

"What?" Asked Lucy and Erza in Unison. He nodded, then began to read the whole riddle that they had acquired:

"The fairies will fall at the mercy of a Dragon's Fang,

But in vain the small creatures search,

Find the location of the guild hall,

You'll find the Dragon's perch.

So, to find the guild the winged people seek,

Ask all manner of folk, strong or meek,

Go to the place with the M emblem however,

And your knowledge of the Dragons will begin to climb its peak."

Gray stopped reading. His vision began to get blurry, then a scene flashed through his mind.

"No, Will isn't a fitting name. You should name him after Silver... we should call him Gray!" Said the small girl who had been haunting his dreams. Another vision. Erza noticed him wincing and asked:

"You okay, Gray?"

It was best not to worry her. "Yes, I'm fine, just processing it." You didn't need to be a genius to tell he was lying. But Erza didn't ask, it was his problem, not hers.

"A guild with an M emblem, huh? So that must be-"

"Mermaid Heel." Finished Lucy. "That's where we should go next."

#########################################################

Meanwhile:

Along the east side of Fiore's capital, Crocus, there is a mountain range named after the capital. The mountains are great for hunters, especially for the rare species that come during spring which fetch a high price in markets. It is a very popular place among hunters and trappers alike.

However.

On the east side of the Crocus Mountains, there is a forest called the Kiba Wood. Even though close to the mountain range, the forest has been mostly abandoned by the animals. Many say that a strong magical presence lies over the trees, good or bad is unknown. Many avoid the forest altogether to avoid becoming bewitched. Just to be safe.

In this such forest, there is a large clearing. The clearing is filled with rubble from an ancient castle that was destroyed long ago. The place is accompanied by two individuals.

One is a woman. She has aburn hair that has been coiled into a bun, and she wears a red plaid flannel shirt and khaki capris. Her face is in a state of absolute serenity. The other is a young man, probably age fourteen. He has lemon yellow layered hair, and his eyes are as green as the trees themselves. The two wait in expectancy for a few minutes more, then another figure steps into the clearing. The figure has on a light blue cloak with white fur trim, and their feet barely echo to signal their approach. The young man notices the figure first.

"Hoodwink Sensei. I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Don't underestimate me, Fuyu. I could fend for myself against those Fairies if I had to." The figure responded. The voice of the figure was like silk, beautiful but also terrifying. The boy called Fuyu nodded in agreement and stood next to his teacher.

"Glad to have you, Hoodwink. Master wants to see you when we get back." Said the woman.

"Thank you, Jodi. I will see her the minute we arrive." Said the figure. The woman called Jodi nodded and then muttered a few words. As if the universe got split in half, the air in front of the three individuals begin to peel apart as vines revealed the true form of the ruins. They weren't ruins at all.

Inside the barrier was the Dragon Fang Guild Hall.

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 **Hey guys, hope you're doin' good. I've been quite busy, and I also started re-watching FT for ideas, (guilty of sitting on my butt and doing nothing. ;))**

 **Just to clear up a few things:**

 **I didn't use any ideas from any of the movies.**

 **I didn't use anything from the OVA's either.**

 **Thank you sooooo much to NaLuCrAzY215 for reviewing. It made me happy reading your opinion! :)**

 **Please, Please, Pleaaaase review (It may help me to write faster and make longer chappies.) Also follow and favorite. You're amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	7. Chapter 552: Waiting Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the fanfic idea is mine, so that's that.**

"Remind me to never ride on one of these things ever again." Said Natsu, utterly trying not to vomit on the spot. He had woken up from being knocked out by Erza for at least an hour now, and all he had done was either lay on Lucy's lap and blergh or hang out the window. His constant complaining was getting on everyone's nerves.

"Natsu, we get it. We'll be in Magnolia in less than thirty minutes now." Said Happy.

"I'm not even sure I'll last that long." Natsu moaned. Everyone rolled their eyes.

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True to what Happy had said, Erza, Gray, Lucy, Natsu and the blue cat all arrived in Magnolia shortly after. The town seemed to be as busy as usual, people doing their daily business and running their shops. The wheels stopped with a creak as the wagon pulled to a halt in front of the Guild Hall. The group walked in silently, but all of the guild noticed their arrival. They all started swarming the new arrivals.

"Well, how'd it go?" Asked Cana impatiently.

"Did you see Sherria while you were there?" Asked Wendy.

"Did you find out anything?" Questioned Carla.

"Yes, but not quite what we had hoped." Said Erza, after a moment.

"Well, that's better than nothing!" Exclaimed Macao.

"He's right you guys, why are you all so down in the dumps for?!" Yelled Natsu suddenly from the back. This spooked everyone in front of him.

"It just could've been better." Finished Gray, who was trying to push a overprotective and clingy water-mage from his arm.

"Yeah, well, get over it! We did what we could!" Said Lucy, now in the same spirits as Natsu. Erza and Gray smiled, Happy just scoffed.

"Let's go talk to Master about what happened, you guys." Said Mira, pulling them all away from the crowd and rushing them up the stairs. They all hurried to Makarov's quarters, past the infirmary and the light filled library. It was empty, other than the sun which made the room looked cozy and full. The Master's room hadn't changed a bit since the last time they were there, other than a few more rumpled papers were on the desk. Makarov was snoring, so Mira giggled and spoke softly:

"Master? Natsu and his team have returned, and they would like to speak with you." All that got was another snore, this one louder than the previous ones.

"Master!" Barked Mira, a little louder. He awoke with a jolt.

"Hmmm...oh yes, Natsu my boy, how did it go?" Said Makarov to Natsu, Mira clearly annoyed he failed to mention her presence.

"Well..." Natsu began, "Erza, you wanna start this one?" The red head nodded. As a group, the party began to relay their adventure to Lamia to Makarov, all about Gourd, the woman and man, and the mysterious hooded figure he had described. Then they told him about the glowing paper, and then Gray pulled it out of the pocket he kept it in and read the new parts of the message. Lastly, they told him about going to Mermaid Heel. Makarov put his hand on his chin after they finished, in deep thought.

"Gray, let me see the message parchment."

"Sure." Said the ice-mage. He put the cloth in the outstretched hand of the Master, and after examining it for a bit, he told them all:

"My, how interesting. This is an enchanted paper bewitched with the spell Reveal. It is a certain type of Solid Script magic, the same kind of magic Levy uses, only a lot more powerful. It allows the caster to hide words on sheets of paper, and using a series of code words, the message shows itself. Only those the caster gives permission to are allowed to see or reveal the words, though-"

"So, wait. You're saying-"

"The caster or one of their cronies must be in range in order to reveal the words-"

"So that means-"

Natsu was dumbfounded. "I'm so confused. What the hell is going on?!"

"Geez, you're dense." Gray said, enraging Natsu. "It means that we came near or into contact with one of the members, you idiot."

Natsu had an epiphany. " Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense!" Everyone's sweat dropped as Erza clobbered Natsu.

"Do you think Gourd may have been one of their spies? Was everything he told us a lie?" Asked Lucy.

"I don't know for certain, but I doubt it. Ooba's intuition is usually not wrong, and I don't think she would feed you kids false information. Did you talk to anyone else while you were in Margaret?" Makarov asked.

"No, not other than Lamia and Gourd." Gray responded.

"Hmmm... that means that they must have snuck in when your were vulnerable. Did you sleep at all while you were there?"

"Yeah."

"Ah-ha! They must've done it then. While you were asleep, they stole the cloth and undid Reveal so that you saw more of the puzzle." Everyone processed this.

"Ahhhhh! You mean that some random pervert snuck in our room while we were asleep and undid the spell? How creepy!" Exclaimed Lucy.

"Now that you mention it Gramps, I heard the door creak earlier when I was half-conscious. I thought it was just the wind, but do you think-"

"It may have been our infiltrator, Yes." Makarov answered. Gray shuddered, not only from fear, but self anger. "I want all of you to go back downstairs. Give me until tomorrow to decide what to do." Everyone did as they were told. As soon as they got downstairs, Team Natsu was bombarded with questions, so in order to make things easier they told their story again. The whole guild held its breath until the tale was over, a few more questions were asked, then everyone lost interest and resumed their daily business. The exhausted team was gestured over to a particularly large table by Wendy, Carla and Juvia, and they all took a seat gratefully. Gray was still ticked at himself, and was shaking with clutched fists now.

"What's wrong, streaker? Scared you have a Stalker?" Joked Natsu.

"Heh, at least I'm not as petrified as you, Scarf-Boy." Said Gray, locking horns with the salmon haired man. They menaced for a few minutes, then Lucy yelled.

"Can you never shut up or quit fighting? Geez, It's like dealing with a bunch of kids!" At first, Both looked at each other surprised, then mocked Natsu,

"Yeah, Gray, you heard her, knock it off!"

"It's a dual effort!"

"That's it!" Erza joined in with Lucy, "I'm sick and tired of hearing you two fight, it weakens our team, and makes everyone miserable. It wouldn't kill you two to get closer to one another, you know."

"We're close enough! I don't wanna be any closer to this freak than I have to be!"

Lucy chimed in, "No, Erza's right. You need to learn to work together better, and quit all of this nonsensical fighting. Today, the master told us to wait for his decision, but he didn't say how. That leaves this whole day for you two to get your problems sorted out." She paused for a second, then smirked. "And I know just the way to do it."

"How?" Asked Erza. Lucy smirked even harder.

"I dare you two to go on a job together."

######################################################

The whole guild froze.

"What?!"

"Me, go on a job solely with him?"

"You're nuts Lucy!"

"Oh come on guys, what's so bad abou-" She didn't even have to finish the sentence to know the truth. Rivals working together? Oh please.

"It'd be fun.."

"Alright, fine, say we were to go. What job, and what would be your side of the deal? We won't do it for free you know. "

"Lucy and I will go on a job you pick for us." Said Erza, butting in to the argument and surprising Lucy. The boys whispered to each other for a minute, then Natsu challenged.

"Okay, you're on!"

#####################################################

"I'm just gonna tell you now, Flame Head. I don't wanna be here doing this with you, but I had nothing else to do, so I came along and-"

"Yeah, whatever, you're just scared of facing Erza without telling her you followed up on your end of the deal."

"Nu-uh."

"That's totally right, you're just a big baby just like you always were."

This was some of the talk that had been exchanged between two of Fairy Tail's most infamous mages. They were walking to the Magnolia East Forest, per the job request that Lucy and Erza had picked for them. Their task was simple, catch a fish no man had seen for at least a hundred years. When Happy heard about their job, he begged to come along, and he had cried when Erza told him no. Neither Gray or Natsu had exceptional fishing skills, but when they had told this to Erza, she gave them the Death Glare and said that the job "would help them learn to be more patient with one another." There was no arguing with her. This was going to be a long day.

#########################################################

"God, this is boring." Natsu complained. They'd been sitting there for two hours.

"Shut up, Natsu, it's your damn fault we're in this mess. And don't you and Happy do this all the time?" Gray said, annoyed.

"Yeah, But Happy's my pal. It's not the same when you're with a frozen princess-"

"Shut up, like I said, you're scaring the fish away. The sooner you shut up, the sooner we catch the fish, the sooner we can get away from this hell." He sighed.

"I'm not the issue her-"

"I got a tug!" Gray exclaimed.

"Congratulations, you got a tug from one of the many hundred fish in the lake. It's not like that's the one we're looking for anyway." Replied Natsu sarcastically.

"The guy that gave us the bait said that the only fish in all of Fiore that uses this kind of bait is the Idaina Sakana, and that's what we're here to catch!"

"Really? In that case, let me help you pull it in."

"I got it just fine, Ash-for-Brains."

"Can't you tell when someone is trying to help you, moron? Move outta my way so I can catch Mr. Big Fish."

"Not a chance."

The two fought over the pole for a few minutes more. Then suddenly, the pole gave a quick and strong jolt, and both were forced to hold on to it for dear life.

"Don't you dare let go, Ice Panties." Said a strained Natsu.

"I'd be more worried about you, idiot." Replied a strained Gray.

The two held on to the pole for a second, then Gray suggested an idea, "Look, I hate you and you hate me, but if we're gonna pull this off, we, uh, have to, uh, work together." He sped up the last two words.

"Are you nuts?" Natsu asked. Gray gave him the serious look, and automatically they both knew the plan.

"Alright, on the count of three. One-"

Natsu jerked.

"Dammit Natsu, you were supposed to wait 'til three!" Gray pulled along with Natsu. All at once, the both of them fell over and yanked the fish out of the water. Water went flying and splattering everywhere. Both mages looked at each other, soaked.

"Where'd the fish go?" Panicked Natsu, searching the mud for the fish. Both Natsu and Gray searched frantically around the soggy bank for the fish.

"I don't see it-" Said Gray. Then he put his hand on something scaly.

"Never mind. Get over here!" He yelled as Natsu scrambled over to where Gray was. They both peeked in the bushes to see what they'd reeled in. The look of surprise on their faces was apparent as they stared at the fish.

The fish was small, about an inch big, with moldy scales about the size of a baby's pinky nail. The eye was disproportionate to it body, taking up almost all of its face. In general, it was really ugly. Hence the looks of surprise and disgust.

"What?! We spent a perfectly good day for this? Are we really that weak?" He held the fish up by its tiny tail. The fish squirmed. Gray facepalmed.

"Well, it's what the client wanted. Let's go drop it off already. I can't bare to look at the poor, disgusting thing anymore." After Gray froze it in order to keep it preserved, they brought it to the client, who was infuriated because Gray had froze it. Because of this, they only got paid half their reward. Neither cared, they just wanted to get back to the guild as soon as possible. They walked down the street with glum expressions, and eventually they reached their destination. As soon as they entered the door, they heard laughs. They entered and saw an embarrassed Lucy and Erza surrounded by chuckling guild members. Both of the boys smirked, the hell that they had faced that day was only a mere fraction of the agony the girls had faced.

"Did you do it?" Asked Natsu as they sat down. The girls nodded.

"Just remind me to never dare you to do anything ever again."

"Why, Luce? You didn't like our job request?" Mocked Natsu.

"Please! Catching a stupid fish was your mission! You made me and Erza completely scratch our dignity!"

"Oh, c'mon, it wasn't that bad." Natsu chuckled.

"It wasn't even a job! You two were just trying to get back at us by making us do that. God, do you know how humiliating it was?!"

More chuckles. Same old Lucy.

#########################################################

Earlier that day, right around the time Natsu and Gray set off for their mission, a barrier opened and closed. Three figures walked inside the barrier. Two of them, a young man and a red haired woman, bid their farewells to the third, cloaked figure. The cloaked figure then walked into the great building the barrier was concealing. Past the murals of long past, statues, and great pillars of grey stone, all the way to a pair of wooden doors. The figure didn't bother knocking, and entered.

"You wanted to see me, Master?" The room was fairly dark, lit up only by a window. Even so, another person could be seen standing, looking out the window.

"Yes, I did." The figure turned around. She had big, green eyes and two curly brown pigtails that stretched to their feet. They looked like a child compared to the figure, but make no mistake that their power was on par. She was wearing a red set of wizards robes, which had the same dragon symbol as the one on the paper. "You've done well, Hoodwink. Undoing Reveal and all the other jobs I've given you, I mean. Take a rest for a little while, and enjoy yourself before the games begin."

"You know I can't do that, Master." Said the figure, "No one else could properly infiltrate the fairies like I can, you know that."

"That is not completely correct." She gestured over to the window, where she pointed at the young man from before. "What about your pupil? He is sure to be just as satisfactory as you are."

With looks of uncertainty, the cloaked figure said, "You may be right, Master, but Fuyu still lacks experience. I will let him go once, to deliver Reveal's third message, then I will do the final one. By then, the fairies will know how to find us."

"Correct, Hoodwink. All is going as planned." A moment of silence, then:

"Master, why are we even doing this? We can just tell the weakling fairies where we are and move on with our plan swiftly an-"

Laughing interrupted the figure. "My dear, sweet Hoodwink. This all just a game, you see. A giant game of cat and mouse, where we just sit and watch in satisfaction at the little mice running all around." More giggling. The cloaked figure stared at the girl a few minutes more, then:

"I'm going to go tell Fuyu his assignment."

"Very good, Hoodwink. As of now, Reveal is in his hands."

The figure opened and walked out of the door. Walking to the place where they had seen their pupil last, they said in their head,

"Don't fail, Fuyu. Make Oliver and me proud."

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 **Hey you all! Been a while, I know, this chappie just took me a little longer than expected, mainly because this is the slow part. I will try to make it interesting for you all though, and I will try to write faster and more.**

 **Sorry if there are any confusing parts in the story, it will all connect soon!**

 **As always, review, follow and favorite. You're all amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	8. Chapter 553: The Boy With The Sun Hair

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the fanfic idea is mine, so that's that.**

"What? They want me to do a job, Hoodwink-Sensei?" Asked a boy with lemon hair.

"Yes, that was what the Master wanted to speak to me about. They think that you are ready to try a job on your own." Said his mentor.

"Alright!" Said the boy excitedly. He chuckled, satisfied at this new task, but then stopped when he saw his master's pursed lips.

"What's the matter, Hoodwink-Sensei?" He asked the figure. The said person looked at him with a gentle smile.

"Nothing, Fuyu." Silence for a second.

"There is a lack of sincerity in your voice, Sensei. I know that you're worried for me, but you don't have to be. I can handle it, after all, I learned from the best." He ended the last sentence with a grin. The figure's lips were parted in shock from the heartfelt comment for a minute, then they curved into a real smile.

"I know you can handle it. You are one of the strongest and most powerful people I've ever had the pleasure of working with and teaching. I wouldn't replace you for the world." The two embraced, then:

"I'm going to go brag a little to Eli and Hiru, ok, Sensei?" Said the boy.

The figure nodded, and as they watched the boy's shadow becoming smaller and smaller, their uncertainty grew larger.

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"I've made my decision!" Announced Makarov. The members had all gathered around the stage to hear the Master's decree, all of them so close to one another it was suffocating. Still, the thrill of Makarov's decision was the motivation of every member as they listened intently. The Master cleared his throat.

"Ahem... Based on what we have learned from our past trip to Lamia Scale and other events leading up to our current situation, I have made the authoritative decision to follow through with Natsu's plan-"

"Hahaha! How's that for you Gray? Master wants to continue my pla-"

"Natsu, shut up! Master wasn't done speaking." Said an annoyed red-headed mage, knocking him out.

"Ahem... like I was saying, I'd like to continue our current plan with a few minor changes." There was a murmur of curiosity at this.

"We will go to the Mermaid Heel, then Quattro Cerberus, and follow through with the plan. However, because men are not allowed inside this first place, These will be your duties in order to execute this plan: Lucy, Levy, Juvia, Wendy, Erza and Carla will go to Mermaid Heel to find out any information they might provide. Natsu, Gray, Elfman, Gajeel, Happy and Lily will act as lines of defense for Magnolia and the guild hall in the case of an attack on us directly. Everyone else, start reading up all you can about these hoodlums. We will not just stand by idly and wait for them to terrorize us. We will prepare for them."

##########################################################

"This is gonna be fun!" Said Wendy as she shut the carriage door behind her. This was a bigger carriage than typical wagons, that way all six ladies could fit in it. Granted, it was still pretty smushed inside, but it wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, plus all of them had been in way more awkward situations than this.

"I hope you're right, Wendy, and that one of us doesn't get hurt during this whole endeavor." Said Carla. A whisper of agreement.

"Let's stay positive, Carla-San. This will be an excellent time." Said Juvia.

"Yeah, I'm just glad Natsu's not here, he would have already started drooling on me by now." Remarked Lucy. Everyone laughed.

"Speaking of which, Lu-Chan-" Said Levy, giving a devious smile, "you've been so busy lately, you haven't told us about what happened between you and Natsu-kun on that solo job yet. Think you could tell us now?"

Lucy blushed furiously. "Why do you guys keep asking me what happened? Nothing happened I told you, Happy was just joking-"

"Really? The color of your face says otherwise." Erza Said, also smirking. At this, Lucy stuttered for a second in embarrassment, then said:

"Fine, there was something-"

"Ooh goodie, tell us!" Begged Levy. Everyone leaned in forward to listen, and Lucy twiddled her thumbs. She stuttered again for a second, the began to speak in a very fuddled tone:

"So everyone knows there were these two kids Natsu and I were trying to catch right?" Everyone nodded.

"Well, anyway, Natsu and I traveled into the forest to go search, while Happy scouted above for them. We were walking in a small clearing shortly after beginning our adventure, when we got captured very easily by the kids. It was really humiliating. They took us to their "lair," where they insisted on using their magic to torture us."

"Two little kids torturing Natsu? How so?" Asked Wendy.

Lucy rushed out the words, "They made us confess our deepest darkest secrets to one another." Everyone processed this, then Levy said:

"Oh c'mon, Lu, it wasn't really that bad."

"It really was, neither of us will ever hear the end of it from the other. You wouldn't believe some of the things I was forced to confess to Natsu. And some of the things he said to me." Everyone laughed.

"Well, the important thing is you got the job done, right?" Said Erza.

"Yeah, I guess." Said Lucy, her flush not as red now. "Lets just pray those kids got an awful good scolding from their mom that'll teach them never to do stuff like that again."

##########################################################

The ride to Mermaid Heel was pretty much the same way the whole trip, everyone sharing stories and embarrassing secrets and the others reacting in hilarious ways. Finally, they arrived in the small beach town called Horakai, the town where the members of the infamous all-female guild resided. A warm welcome was given as soon as the first person stepped out of the carriage.

"Welcome, Fairy Tail. We are delighted you made it here safely." Said a brown haired, sword-wielding maiden.

"Oh, Kaggie, it's nice to see you too!" Replied Erza as she hugged her friend. The last bit of luggage was unloaded soon after by the coachman, and as the Said man climbed back into his seat, a friendly tug on his shirt caused him to look at the person who was tugging. One of the passengers on the carriage, a small girl whom the others called Wendy was staring at him with a friendly stare.

"Thanks for taking us here, Mister." She handed him a pouch equal to ten jewel. He tilted his head so that she could see the head under his black cloak. Two of the greenest eyes the sky dragon slayer had ever seen belonged to the teenage boy underneath the cloak. His eyes matched perfectly with his messy yellow hair, which was sticking up on the top. He looked kind, gentle, and loyal, but Wendy's intuition told her that the he bore many burdens that could not be seen from the surface.

"Don't mention it." He pocketed the coin, whipped the horses and drove away. As the dust from the back of the wheels was kicked up in the girl's face, all she could do was stare as the carriage disappeared farther into the distance.

"Wendy, are you coming in?" Asked Carla.

"Oh, yeah." The girl walked toward the door and through it, questioning herself:

"Why do I feel that that boy is someone important?"

######################################################

"Erzy-Werzy!" Yelled a certain kitty wizard as she tackled a certain equip mage.

"Good to see you too, Milliana." Said Erza, hugging her back. Indeed, all the guild seemed to welcome the new arrivals, showing them around the magnificent guild hall, taking them to lounge on the beach, or just talking and sharing a drink. It is safe to say that the members of Mermaid Heel treated the ladies of Fairy Tail very well that day. Finally, the guild and their guests all had dinner in the great hall as the sun set over the blue ocean. Merry talk and lavishing in delicious food was the main event In the hall that night, all except for one person sitting at the end of the table looking down.

"What's wrong, Wendy?" Asked Lucy, who was sitting next to the Said mage.

"Uh, no, nothing's wrong, it's just, something that happened this morning. It's fine."

"Oh, do you wanna talk about it?"

"No, no, It's okay."

"Okay, just as long as you're good. Hey, you wanna go get some shrimp from the bar? It's fresh caught here!"

"Um...sure!"

######################################################

The rest of the night passed swiftly. After everyone finished and was sent home, Fairy Tail was shown to their rooms (everyone had their own) and the weary women quickly drifted to sleep. A draft from an open window was coming from a room at the end of a long hallway, which a guest was staying in. The girl was sleeping soundly, her blue hair over her face. Sadly, she was not alone.

A breeze blew inside the window. Snowflakes and ice were in that wind. As soon as the minute blizzard blew in, its form changed, revealing the young man from before. He was no longer wearing his hood, leaving his features exposed as moonlight fell on his face. He looked around the room, at the sleeping girl, and then crept over to where her garments from the day were. He had no trouble finding what he was looking for: an enchanted cloth that had been given to Wendy by Gray before they left. He grabbed it eagerly out of her pearled lavender dress, excited that he had gotten this far.

"Give them the third." Said the boy. The parchment lit up a bright green then faded back to black. The boy smiled at the paper triumphantly. Only when a scream echoed in his ears did his expression fade.

"Intruder!" Yelled the girl, who had been woken by the glow of the Reveal spell. The boy stuttered and ran for the window, but the sky dragon slayer got there quicker.

"I'm not letting you leave!" She yelled at him. He stepped back a few feet, then footsteps from the other aroused people came from the hall. The young man's mind was in turmoil. He couldn't get captured now, he would prove he was useless and untrustworthy to his guild and his master. No way was he going to let that happen. There was only one way around this.

"Who are you?!" She yelled at him. The door handle began to shake.

"I'm sorry." Said the boy. He stretched his fingers out to touch Wendy's head.

"Ice Make: Concealment." As soon as he touched her, her body was enveloped in ice. He ran past her, transformed into snow and flitted out of the window. And just in the nick of time too, because every person in the guild came barging through the door just a second later, menacing glares on their faces.

######################################################

"Wendy! Wendy wake up!" Said the voice of a creme colored Exceed. The girl of which she spoke had just been released from a frozen spell, and was rendered unconscious. At the familiar voice, the girl stirred and opened her eyes. After remembering all that had happened the previous night, she bolted upright and half yelled:

"It was him!" Everyone looked confused.

"Slow down, Wendy. Care to explain?" Asked one of the many other mages in the room.

"I saw the intruder! He was our coachman on the way here! I know because his features were practically identical from the man that brought us here!" Everyone fell silent.

"Our coachman wore a hood. He snuck into Wendy's room, and he undid Reveal. Also, he froze her solid. The facts line up." Lucy stated.

"Hold on, Lu-Chan, you're not suggesting-" Everyone gasped.

"Yes, I'm afraid she's right." Erza responded.

"This boy is the defiler of our guild!"

######################################################

Kagura was outraged when she heard a summary of the previous night's events.

"A man? How disgraceful! Our reputation would be in ruin if the people found out about this! And he hurt poor Wendy, the nerve! I hope the bastard gets what he deserves sooner than later!"

Breakfast was delicious, but silent. Kagura fumed at the head of the table, while everyone talked about the night's events. When breakfast ended, Kagura and Milliana gestured for Fairy Tail to follow them. They were led into a room absolutely covered by maps, on the walls each with its own label.

"We hope this can be of some use to you." Kagura gestured to a map on the table. It was labeled "Fang Sites."

"We've been getting some unusual findings on our patrols around this area."Milliana explained, "We heard about some trouble with some wizards near the outskirts of town. We went there to try and figure out if we could help, but by the time we arrived the whole house had vanished without a trace. All that was left was this job request and-" she set a piece of paper on the table and turned to Kagura. She nodded, then pulled something out of her pocket wrapped in a cloth. She set it down on top of the request.

"And this." Erza pulled back the cloth. Inside was a fang, about a foot long, with a pointed end. It was white and smooth to the touch, the only words to describe it were beautifully terrifying.

"How long ago was this?" Asked Erza.

"About three months ago. That was the beginning of it." She then proceeded to pull more papers and teeth out of her pocket, all of the requests for assassination jobs and every tooth looking identical. In the end, ten teeth and requests laid on the table. All of Fairy Tail's group stared in horror.

"Everyone died, didn't they?" Asked Wendy.

"Not a sole survivor."

######################################################

"We wish you well on your trip home." Said Kagura, opening the door to the carriage for Juvia.

"We can't thank you enough for your hospitality, Mermaid Heel. Until we meet again."

"Bye Beth!"

"See you soon!"

The carriage door shut behind the last person with a click. As the coachman (who has been thoroughly inspected before getting in the drivers seat) was about to whip the horses, Kagura stormed up, grabbed his shirt and said:

"If you hurt them, I will kill you."

######################################################

As they were returning, another eventful thing was about to occur in a northern part of Fiore. A young man trudged through the trees, not sure wether or not his disappointment and shame or exhaustion was holding him back more. His magic energy was low, so he'd spent all night walking through the forest near his guild, through all the shrubs, vines, weeds and all the other accompanying plants that lay along the unkept forest path. It was a relief when he arrived at the rubble disguise of his guild, but that relief got swallowed as soon as he saw what else was waiting for him at the barrier entrance. An angry mentor.

"Sensei, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize Reveal was so bright. I-" he stopped talking. His mentor had put their hand on his head. She looked down just barely so they were eye to eye. Fuyu just stood there, silent, awestruck he wasn't figuratively "dead" yet, but then the mentor spoke.

"Your intuition serves you well, Fubuki. I cannot deny my disappointment in your mission's outcome." Fuyu gulped. He knew whenever his master used his full name, he was in for it. "However, it is not in my authority to punish you, and the Master has decreed that I let you off the hook. She argues that you Finished the job, and that was your objective." The boy looked up into his teacher's hooded, concealed face. All he could see was a mild expression on their lips. He nodded, then wiped the tears that were starting to form in his eyes. He hated when he could feel his Master's disappointment, especially when it was in him.

" _Damn you, Fubuki."_ The boy said to himself as he ran away. Even though he had never seen his Master's face, he had been their pupil for so long he knew when they were shunning someone. And he was it.

" _Why can't you do anything right Fubuki? Why do you constantly mess up? You're nobody."_ Said a pessimistic voice in his head. He kept running.

" _This is why Hoodwink-Sensei won't ever show you her face. You're a unreliable screw up that has no one."_ He was running up and down the hills around the guild hall now, disturbing all the wildflowers on the lush hills.

" _You should stop running now, you have utterly embarrassed yourself. How can you even show your face to them again? You disgust me."_

"Shut up!" He Said to the voice.

" _You're a failure, Fubuki, just accept that."_

"I Said Shut up!" He said, finally banishing the doubting thoughts to the whole from whence they came. He had come to one of the tallest hills in the area, where one could see over all the tops of trees and beyond. He stared off into the sun for a while, then a single tear creeped down his face.

" _I'm sorry."_

 _##############################################################_

 **Whew! Sorry that took so long, guys. I've had major writers block, especially since this is the slow part. Don't worry, though! Only two more chapters in the slow part, then we face some action. :) (I hope, unless my writing takes a turn for the slow part.)**

 **Also, in case you're confused, Fuyu is not the boy's real name. His real name is Fubuki (meaning snowstorm.) His nickname is Fuyu (meaning Winter.) His last name is Hitoshi. Another note on Fuyu, if you want to see more shipping between Fuyu and Wendy, use the name Wenyu in a review, and I'll consider making more fluff. ;)**

 **FWI, Horakai (Mermaid Heel's base town) translates to conch shell, for those of you who are wondering.**

 **Expect chappies to come out a little faster from me from now on, I'm less busy now that Summer is here, so I have more time to write.**

 **Make sure to leave a review, follow, or favorite!**

 **Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, you're all amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	9. Chapter 554: Cats In The Cradle

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mishima does. However, the fanfic idea is mine, so that's that.**

"Hey guys, welcome back!" Shouted an over enthusiastic Natsu when the traveling party entered through the door. He was eating, as usual, and Gray and Happy on either side of him. They all looked back to confirm.

"Hey guys, it's nice to see you too-" Lucy was interrupted by a menacing glare by the one and only Erza Scarlet.

"Natsu. Gray."

"Yes ma'am?

"Why aren't you out on patrol?"

"Oh, Lily, Gajeel and Laxus are doing that now. We already did our shift." The other two, plus Wendy arrived at the bar.

"I see." A minute of silence as Erza leaned over the bar.

"Mira. Is the Master upstairs?" She said darkly.

"Yes, I think so, unless he slipped out without me knowing."

"Good." She grabbed Wendy and Lucy's hands and started marching with them upstairs. "We need to explain all that happened to Master. Everyone else can relay the message down to the rest of the guild." Erza moved at a fast pace down the hall, and finally when they arrived they realized they were being followed by a trio of guys.

"We want to hear what happened first hand." Said Gray, followed by a nod from Natsu and Happy. Erza nodded, knocked on the door, and entered. The master was working by the light of a lamp at his desk, obviously almost done with whatever he was writing, he put it down immediately as the door was shut.

"Oh, great, you're back safely. No harm done, I hope?" He sounded slightly drunk, but no one really cared.

"I wish that were the case, Master." Said Erza in a gravelly tone. The three girls then relayed the events of the trip to Mermaid Heel in detail, lastly explaining the assassination requests and the fangs. They finished, then they heard a wall crack behind them.

"Those little creeps." Said a pissed off Natsu. A flame had begun to weave its way around his fist. Gray put a hand on his shoulder, and his temper settled a little.

"What does the parchment say now?" Asked Makarov.

"You know, everything was so chaotic at the Heel, and on the way back, I forgot to check." Wendy pulled the cloth out of her pocket. She read the following aloud:

"The fairies will fall at the mercy of a Dragon's Fang,

But in vain the small creatures search,

Find the location of the guild hall,

You'll find the Dragon's perch.

So, to find the guild the winged people seek,

Ask all manner of folk, strong or meek,

Go to the place with the M emblem however,

And your knowledge of the Dragon's will begin to climb its peak.

Another clue you have found,

To find your foes in wait,

Travel to the second-best place,

For the next clue in your fate."

"Second-Best place?" Asked Gray, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, but I'm just about fed up with all the riddles and garbage! Show me where they are so I can kick their asses already!" Said a fired-up Natsu.

"Well, unless we know what 'Second-Best' refers to, we can't, can we?" Said Gray mockingly. Natsu didn't even have time to retort before Erza gave them the Death Glare.

"Second-Best... Second-Best..."

"What's a place that's second best?"

"Who cares?!"

"Shut-Up Natsu!"

"Guys, focus...A place second best."

"...a guild that's second best. Wait- that's it!" Said Lucy finally.

"What is it, Lucy?" Asked Erza.

"It's Sabertooth! They placed second in the Grand Magic Games!" A moment of clarity dawned on everyone in the room.

"Oh, yeah. That was obvious." Said Gray.

"That's Lucy's talent, always pointing out random and obvious things." Mocked Happy.

"Put a sock in it, Cat!" Everyone laughed, relieved.

"Ok. If Lucy is correct, we should leave for Sabertooth immediately." Declared Erza, not even giving the Master time to make the official command. "Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Carla and I will go as soon as possible. I assume you'll let them know about our arrival, Master?"

"Oh, um, yes of course." Replied Makarov clumsily.

"Wonderful. Everyone, we leave in precisely two hours. Meet in front of the guild."

"Hold on a sec, Erza, we don't want to barge in completely uninvited-" Began Wendy.

"You have an objection?" Asked Erza, giving the Death Glare.

"Uh, no ma'am. We will go immediately ma'am." Rushed Wendy, bowing repeatedly.

"Excellent. See you then."

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"Man, I can't believe we're going to Sabertooth this late in the day." Complained Natsu as he and Happy walked home.

"Aye! But we don't want to stand up Erza." They both shuddered.

"Well, the bright side is we'll get to see Sting and Rogue, right? We haven't seen them in ages."

"Actually, Natsu, we fought with them during our feud with Tartaros, don't you remember."

"Yeah, I know. I mean, it's been forever since I pounded my fist into their faces with a good 'ol brawl!"

"Aye, you never change do you?"

"Nope, not a bit." They smiled, then there was a few moments of silence as they climbed up the hill towards their shack. As they reached the top, Natsu popped a question that he had been wondering for a while.

"Hey, Happy?"

"Yeah?"

I'm having trouble remembering something, think you could help me out?"

"Sure."

Natsu sighed. "Did Lucy really lose Aquarius?"

############################################################

"Wha? Where did that come from?" Said a startled Happy.

"I just... I remember reading Lucy's letter to her mom and the subject of Aquarius seemed to be sensitive, you could tell in her words. Lucy doesn't talk about her as much anymore. And I didn't wanna ask her directly, just in case it was true-"

"It is. Aquarius is gone." A look of shock appeared on Natsu's face, and Happy teared up.

"Lucy sacrificed her during our battle with Tartaros in order to summon The Celestial Spirit King. She broke Aquarius' key. She can never return to our world under Lucy's ownership." Happy started walking even further towards the house with those final words. Natsu stayed, looking at the sun.

"Thanks, Happy." A sniffle in return. The flame bender looked back towards Magnolia.

"And Lucy. I'm sorry." He whispered. He left for the house with those final words.

##############################################################

"You're late." Scolded Erza, approximately two and a half hours later.

"Sorry, I couldn't find my jacket." Apologized Gray, "And also-"

"Gray-sama! You must not ever leave Juvia again! She wants to go with you!"

"I had to deal with this." Finished Gray.

"Come on, Juvia-San. Let's go inside-" Said Levy, who had come out with the purpose of getting Juvia separated from her Senpai. As soon as Levy managed to drag her off his arm, he jumped in the caravan, and they zoomed off with a scream of "Gray-Sama!" Behind them.

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"Everyone. We have no other objective other than to find out any information Sabertooth may give us. No dinner parties, no staying the night, nothing. Only facts."

"Erza, if we were to do that, we'd get back in the middle of the night! Just thinking about it makes me tired." A Death Glare. An apology. No talk. And two motion sick dragon slayers. What a great trip this was going to be.

############################################################q

"So, remind me, where is Sabertooth again?" Asked Gray finally. The party had arrived in Crocus, so they were getting close, apparently. The sun was already beginning to set behind the Crocus Mountains, turning them a dark purple shade.

"Sabertooth is in Kyuryochi, a subdivision North-West of Crocus." Answered Erza. "We should get there within the hour." True to her word, they all arrived at the colossal guild hall about three-quarters of an hour later. Natsu flopped out like a dead fish, Wendy close behind, also sick. Everyone else followed. Lucy hoisted Natsu onto her shoulder as an unknown force opened the door to the guild and everyone entered. The door shut behind them with a thud. Two greeters took the cloaks from the members, then they walked down the entry hall in silence, then into the main room, where every Sabertooth member was waiting, patiently. In the very back-center part of the room, in a huge throne, sat Sting Eucliffe. Saber's Master. On his right was his closest friend, Rogue Cheney, and their Exceeds- Lector and Frosch. On his left sat Yukino Agria, another of the strongest members of the guild, along with Orga Nanagear, the lightning God Slayer, and Rufus Lore, "The Minstrel Who Sings To the Red Moon." These were the most powerful members in the Sabertooth guild. And they were waiting, just for Fairy Tail.

"So, you've finally come, Fairy Tail." Said the Master as soon as the last person had entered. By this time, Natsu had recovered, and was now in the process of a ferocious stare down with Sting.

"We said we would, didn't we, Sting?" He said in a mighty tone. They stared at each other for a while longer.

"I see. Well, in that case-" The light Dragon Slayer stood up, and suddenly the whole room turned into a dance floor, making the crowd erupt with laughter.

"-let's party!"

"Yeah!"

############################################################

"Thank you for preparing all this for us, but sadly, we must decline." Said Erza within the first ten seconds of the party. Everyone froze.

"Oh, come on, Erza. Why can't we have a little fun?" Asked Natsu childishly.

"Because, like I said earlier, we came here only for facts, not to 'have fun'."

"Well, screw that! Hey Sting! Rogue! You wanna go brawl outside?!" The same fire-breather challenged.

"No!" Erza punched Natsu. "No brawling, no partying, nothing. Strictly information."

"Geez, Erza. They set up all this stuff for us in such a short time, and you won't let them throw us a celebration? That's really cold, what're you being so stubborn for?" Asked the Ice Devil Slayer.

"...Gray." Said Erza sternly, "I would love to stay, but I'm on direct orders from the Master to get the information and get back. He said that bad times were approaching quicker than we think, so I'm going fast." Silence.

"What did he mean by bad times?" Asked Rogue.

"That, I fail to comprehend myself." Replied Erza.

############################################################

"Very well. We shall give you what we have then send you on your way." Sting stood up and walked back towards a door on his right.

"Right. Fairy Tail, follow me. Rogue, Lector, Frosch, accompany me." Everyone did as they were told. Happy and Carla trotted up to where Sabertooth's two Exceeds were.

"Is Sting alright? I don't think I've ever seen him so serious." Said Carla, concerned.

"He's fine. This is just a sensitive topic for him, especially because last time he, uh, well, you'll find out."

"Oh, okay." Said an unconvinced Happy. They finally came to a smaller, but still big, room at the end of the hall, where Rogue beckoned them to sit in upholstered chairs. Once everyone was seated, Sting began:

"Okay, if I tell you this, you have to promise not to tell the guild. Understand?" Everyone nodded. Sting sighed.

"Truth is, we ran into them before on a job mission. The job was to actually find their location for the Government, and it didn't take us long to get a lead." He paused for air. "We tracked a couple of them to a place not far from here, an abandoned church. We weren't thinking when we walked directly into their trap. They knew we were on their tails, and they completely ambushed us. We got our asses handed to us, and it is really embarrassing." Rogue nodded in agreement.

"I see. What were your targets like, appearance and magic wise?"

"Let's see, one was this chick with reddish hair, she trapped Lector and Frosch with vines."

"Another was a man in a tuxedo, blue hair and a navy fedora, who trapped me in kind of a water prison." Commented Rogue.

"And the last one was an ice wizard. She- well, I'm pretty sure it was a she, did some kind of enchantment that made me feel like all my limbs were frozen, but they weren't. Like some kind of ice paralysis thing. It was strange. Then they left, and their magic with them."

"The third one you mentioned, Sting, was she wearing a hood?" Asked Gray.

"Yeah, But how did you know?"

"As I thought." He said with certainty. "Guys, we've been going about this all wrong. There's two defilers." Everyone processed this.

"I'm afraid he's right." Said Erza after a minute. "They must have sent multiple members to do their dirty work. Typical." Everyone nodded in agreement, then Sting asked.

"Oh, hey I almost forgot. Your Master mentioned something about a cloth they keep leaving behind whenever they give you a message?"

"Oh, you mean the Reveal Cloth?"

"Yeah, that's right! I was wondering if I could see it."

"Sure." Gray felt around for his jacket, then said, " I forgot. It was in my jacket when they took it from us. Wait...that means-"

"You left Reveal unprotected?!" Boomed Erza bolting upright.

"Gray, you idiot!" Bellowed Natsu, barreling out the door. Everyone else ran after him. Through the hall, the main room where curious people saw them running like mad, and through the entry hall. A light blue glow was shining from the breast pocket of Gray's coat when they arrived. The one responsible no where in sight.

############################################################

"Dammit Gray!" Said Erza, pounding her fist into the wall. Sting and Rogue ran to the front door to see if the culprit was in sights, but to no avail. Lucy, Natsu, and the four Exceeds looked at Gray with disgust. Gray had a face of shame.

"I'm sorry guys, I never thought-"

" 'I'm sorry?' Is that all you can muster?" Spouted Natsu, grabbing Gray by the collar, "If you wouldn't have been so careless and brought the stupid paper along, we may have caught the jerk! Don't you understand-"

"Natsu," said Erza, calm once again, "that's enough. It was an honest mistake. Let it go." Natsu let go.

"Well, at least see what it says." Said Wendy. Gray nodded. He pulled his jacket from off the coat hanger, pulled the parchment out of the pocket, then read aloud:

"The fairies will fall at the mercy of a Dragon's Fang,

But in vain the small creatures search,

Find the location of the guild hall,

You'll find the Dragon's perch.

So, to find the guild the winged people seek,

Ask all manner of folk, strong or meek,

Go to the place with the M emblem however,

And your knowledge of the Dragon's will begin to climb its peak.

Another clue you have found,

To find your foes in wait,

Travel to the second-best place,

For the next clue in your fate.

The fairies struggle almost complete,

Through weary minds and heavy feet.

The next destination you will be sent,

Is somewhere sinners can go to repent.

"Somewhere where sinners go to repent? Where could that possibly be-" Lucy was interrupted by Erza.

"I know where we have to go."

##############################################################

 **From the bar at Fairy Tail:**

 **Mira: Hey Lucy! We've got questions from our readers to answer!**

 **Lucy: Mira, what're you talking about? No one ever asks questions-**

 **Mira: Question One- For the Author- How Do you come up with names?**

 **BetaTest401- Actually, it depends on the person's personality, and their magic. Sometimes I just give random names, but not usually.**

 **Lucy: Huh, really? Maybe I should try your tactic-**

 **BetaTest401: Anywayyy-**

 **Mira: Question Two- Again For Beta-San- What inspires you?**

 **BetaTest401: Music, episodes from the anime, chapters in the manga, but especially readers views and opinions drive me to write.**

 **Lucy: If I let people read my work, do you think my writing will get better?**

 **BetaTest401: Maybe, it's all different for everyone.**

 **Lucy: Mehehehe**

 **Mira: That's a great idea Lucy! Everyone could read it and it would be all over the guild-**

 **Lucy: On second thought, maybe I'll keep it to myself**

 **#########################################################**

 **Hey guys! Hope you're all good and having a great Father's Day!**

 **Translations:**

 **Kyuryochi** \- **hillside**

 **Warning! A lot of Jerza moments next chapter (it will probably be a little short too.) I am a very hardcore shipper of those two, it's so kawaii!**

 **Follow, Favorite or leave a Review! You're all awesome!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	10. Chapter 555: The Stars Shine For Us

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the fanfic idea is mine, so that's that. (WARNING: A Whole Bunch Of Jerza Moments)**

"Okay, I gotta ask." Said Gray, "Where did Erza go?"

########################################################

That was a question on everyone's minds. After the rival of Fairy Tail left the third message on Reveal, and after Erza's response, the small party ended up staying the night at Sabertooth. The next morning, after a brief farewell to their hosts, Fairy Tail went back to their respective guild. Everyone except Erza talked on the way home, said mage just sat in silence in a corner seat. After arriving in Magnolia, Erza immediately marched up the stairs to the Master. Shortly after, she came back down and left, her only words, "I'll be back soon."

The response to that was a chorus of anger and curiosity. She slammed the door behind her, and that was it. Everyone had been sitting in silence since then, and one person had finally managed to say something.

"She has requested that you not know." Said Makarov, who had come downstairs and was now sitting on the bar next to Mira.

"Why?" Asked Lucy, "We're her closest friends, why wouldn't she tell-"

"Lucy-" Interrupted Natsu, seriously, "She doesn't want us to know. That's it."

########################################################

"Oh, but Ms. Scarlet, you're sure I can't take you any farther?" Said a man in a drivers seat in a wagon. He was talking to his passenger, a red headed mage, who for some reason was asking to be left in the middle of nowhere. In a forest, almost at night, of a places and times. He didn't agree with leaving a lady in these circumstances. But, she was very persuasive.

"I'm sure. Thank you very much, Jacques." Said the woman, climbing out of the carriage and giving him a very determined stare. She grabbed her bag, (only one, surprisingly,) and stood off to the side of the carriage looking off into the distance at the setting sun.

"Okay, if you insist. Have a wonderful evening, Miss."

"You too." The wagon drove away. After the sound of the wheels was barely comprehendible, and after checking her surroundings, Erza began on her journey. She slid down the hill on a shield, then walked through the trees. It felt nice to walk after a whole day of traveling.

"He's here, somewhere." She said to herself, almost smelling her target's scent.

"Jellal."

########################################################

"Careful Lucy, or you'll fall in!" Said a pervert in a boat as Lucy was heading home. Like usual, she was walking on the riverbank, watching the sun set on the water.

"I'll take it into consideration!" She said, arriving at her apartment. She pulled out her key and unlocked the door. However, the sound of the door creaking open wasn't the only sound she heard when she opened the door.

The room was eerily quiet and dark, despite the sun still halfway up. What little light flowed into the room cast shadows on everything. The curtain in the open window billowed and made little whipping noises over the silence. Lucy's knees shook for a minute.

" _Why am I afraid to go into my on house?!"_ She said to herself, suddenly feeling stupid. She entered and shut the door behind her. It shut with a click, and she headed over to fix the window.

"Strange, I thought I shut this before I lef-" she didn't have time to even shut the window before a creak in the floor behind her cut her off. She stared at where it had come from.

"Natsu, is that you?" She said, moving closer to where the sound had come from. Two creaks sounded off simultaneously.

"Natsu, if you're trying to scare me, stop, it's not funny. Come out." She grabbed her keys and took a step closer. And another, until she looked through the darkness and saw no one.

"Huh, must have been my imaginati-"

Oh, how I wish I could tell you she was right.

###########################################################

"God, where is he?" Said Erza, after about two hours of trekking through the woods. She hadn't seen anything man made for about two miles, and it had all been rubble reduced to ashes. Her logical brain was at war with itself, trying to figure out if she should just turn around or keep looking. It looked like the first option was going to win the battle. Just as she was about to turn around, something caught her eye. A magic smoke plume. Quick as she could, she requiped into her Flight Armor and, as the name suggests, flew towards the signal.

"He knows I'm coming." Said the mage, landing as softly as a cat. Soon, she arrived at the site where the embers were dying. An old barn was also in front of her, and after requiping into her normal armor and drawing a sword, Erza crept into the place. It smelled of must and dead rodents inside, and scattered straw was all over the floor. Many of the walls were corroded and falling apart. Overall, Erza hoped she wouldn't have to stay long. She sat on a considerably large pile of straw, and waited.

The sun set behind the tree line, and the darker it got, the more the weight of the world seemed to get lighter. Finally, sleep overtook her, and the mighty Titania entered the world of dreams. A few minutes later someone walked in the barn. The man had a red birthmark around his right eye, and blue hair that matched the sea. He looked around to make sure they were alone, then smiled as soon as he saw her namesake hair sprawled out on the floor of the abandoned shack. Her eyes fluttered a little in sleep, and as he picked her up, she leaned into his familiar scent and warmth. He was shocked for a minute, then said in a caring voice,

"You never change, do you?" And he walked out with her in his arms.

###########################################################

"Boy, Lucy sure was in a hurry to get home!" Said Natsu, also on his way home with Happy. The moon glimmered in the water.

"Aye. You think she had a tummy issue or something?" Replied the little blue neko.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's that time of the month-"

"What're you talking about Natsu-"

"Never mind, I'll tell you when you're older." The Dragon Slayer Said hurriedly. He laughed, while Happy was just confused. They kept walking, right up until they were in front of Lucy's apartment.

"It looks fine." Said Happy, "but maybe we should check up on her, just in case."

"I guess you're right." Said Natsu, grabbing onto Happy and flying up into the open window. The room was still dark. He reached the windowsill and prepared to land on her bed, like always.

"Hey, Luce, whatcha up to- Augh!" He fell through the window with a thud.

"Hey what's the big dea-" he stopped mid-sentence to look around.

"Natsu, what's going on-" Happy gasped as soon as he saw the room.

The curtains, wallpaper, and upholstery had been ripped to shreds, the furniture destroyed with holes, and the window shattered. The lock on the door had been broken, leaving the door ajar, glass littered the ground like a landfill. But, that wasn't the most unnerving thing in the room. Natsu's fist started shaking with fury.

On the wall, written in crimson, were these words:

"We've won this match, flies."

The writing was dripping down the wall, making small puddles on the floor beneath. Natsu's whole body was shaking now. A flame had started to appear around his body.

"Natsu..." Said man bolted upright, and flames shot out in every direction.

"Dammit! Lucy!"

###########################################################

Erza stirred. She didn't know where she was, or how long she'd been there, but that was okay. She got the feeling it was safe. As her vision returned to her, a blueish ceiling came into view. It was blank, like a whiteboard. She rubbed her eyes, then sat up. The covers on the bed she was in fell off of her. It was a pretty nice bed, king size with a dark brown headboard that had Crime Sorcière's symbol engraved in the middle. The door to get out was on her left, next to a chest of drawers, and on the right was a mirror that stretched across the wall. On the far wall was a patio, with white curtains billowing to reveal the night sky. A man was leaning over the railing, a friend from a distant past. The woman stood up and began to move towards the veranda. She took a quick look in the mirror and almost shrieked. Someone had changed her into a short, blue, and low cut nightie. Not to say she didn't look beautiful in it. Her hair was down and well combed, her earring in place as always. After looking over her reflection for a moment, she shrugged and continued to walk out onto the deck. Her footsteps echoed as the man spoke:

"Well, look who just came back to the land of the living."

"It's nice to see you too, Jellal." She said taking a place next to him. They were silent for a moment. The tower they were in, presumably Crime Sorcière's base building, overlooked the forest, all the maples, pines and other assorted wonders of nature.

"You look nice." He Said, blushing a little.

"Were you the person that changed me into this ridiculous outfit?" Asked the girl.

"What kind of pervert do you take me for?" Asked the man, a little offended. "No, Meredy changed you into some of Ultear's old clothes, she said you looked uncomfortable."

"I see." She said back, "I'm glad you think I look nice." He blushed. Silence again, then she turned to him:

"I assume you know why I've come." She said.

"Yes, I know." He said, only looking straight, "You want to know about the recently surfaced guild." He sighed, "Actually, I don't know any more about it than you do. Since they are a legal guild, Crime Sorcière hasn't been involved in the matter."

"Ah, I see." Replied Erza. "They've just caused a lot of problems for us, and we want to know what they want and more importantly, why." He looked at her, then made a noise and smiled.

"You really, don't change, do you? Always so strong, but with good intentions at the core of all you do."

"You can read me like a book, though, I'm not surprised." Said Erza. She turned to look out again. A shooting star crept across the sky as Jellal breathed:

"Erza." He forced her face to face his. "Tell your Master that Crime Sorcière is always at his disposal, and that we would do any thing to assist you." He tilted her chin up:

"I'd do anything to protect you." Then he went in for a kiss, and Erza excepted it.

Love is a funny thing, you see, always doing things to us that we aren't prepared for. It may hit you by surprise, or not, it may leave a permanent mark on you, or not. You just have to be prepared for anything. Much like how the kiss felt on Erza's lips, leaving a forever permanent place on her heart.

As he pulled away, they looked deep into each other's eyes, and they embraced, sinking to the floor. Sharing body heat and breaths, Erza shut her eyes and gave in. As they sat there, in each other's arms, before the night sky and the forest, on the cool summer night, both felt as though they never wanted the night to end. Jellal rested his head on her head, and both were serene.

"Jellal?" Whispered Erza.

"Yes?" He whispered back. She dug her face into his cloak, his smell.

"Thank you."

###########################################################

"Get back safely."

"I will."

It was the next morning, a morning with a deep orange sunset melding into the blue night. A carriage awaited in the nearby town of Silva in Southern Fiore. Not a lot of people were awake yet, but that made perfect cover in case Jellal should be discovered. Of course, he was disguised as Mystogan, for safety reasons.

"Are you sure you want to stay? Master would probably like to discuss matters in person with you-" Erza inquired.

"I can't, Erza. I have to run the guild, though I wish I could go." He pulled her into a hug. After a few minutes, the red-haired woman turned away, and with a heavy heart said:

"Goodbye." She climbed in and the coach whipped the horses.

And as the carriage drove away, the man said a few final words:

"Until we meet again, Erza Scarlet."

###########################################################

"All'right'e Missy, we be arrivin' in Magnolia." Said the cab driver, stirring Erza. Indeed, the town was in sights, Cardia Cathedral and the shops of the town like usual.

"If you don't mind sir, would you please drop me off at the outskirts?"

"Eh? Oh, sure lass." He pulled the carriage to a stop, and Erza got out.

"Thank you."

"Don' mention it." He Said, taking his jewel and driving away. The dust from the wheels flew in every which direction as Erza began walking through her hometown. Merchants on the side of the road sold silk and linens to rich aristocrats, and children played hopscotch on the sidewalk. Women talked and hung up their laundry. Ah, the comforts of home. It wasn't until she passed the Cathedral when she heard people whispering.

"Did you hear..."

"...yeah, their big..."

"Scary..."

"...poor guild."

"Erza! There you are!" Came the voice of a familiar Ice-Devil Slayer, who was running toward her at full speed.

"Gray, what's going o-"

"Something's happened at the guild!" He pointed frantically. "C'mon!" Both made a bolt for the guild. And what they saw there was unforgetable.

The guild banner, once the pride and joy of the guild members, had been torn to shreds, little bandanas of red silk. All of them laid on top of a beaten, bruised and unconscious Lucy, almost burying her. Levy and Natsu were trying desperately to wake the blonde, but to no avail. Not even a whimper.

"Lu-Chan, wake up!" Begged Levy, bandaging up a gash on her right arm.

"Lucy! Don't you die on us!" Yelled Natsu. Everyone else looked concerned at the unmoving body. Makarov seemed the most unhappy, facing Lucy with his back to the guild hall.

"This has already happened to my children once-" he said, magic swelling around him, "I won't let them do it to me again!" The magic shot off him like lightning from a cloud. He yelled some sort of cry between anguish and hatred, one that all the Fairy Tail Members shared. A sound interrupted that cry. It was a laugh.

"My, my. A little angry are we, Fairy Tail?" Came the voice of a small woman with brown pigtails. She was standing even behind Makarov, in front of the guild doors.

"You..." He said in a gravelly tone.

"You jerks!" Came a fire Dragon Slayer from behind him, with a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. The spell went right through the body.

"Silly man, I'm not really here. I'm a thought projection. Cool, huh?" No response except from the Master.

"Who in the hell are you?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, introductions, duh." She gave a little giggle and waved a peace sign in the air:

"I'm Erin Beatrice, Master of the Dragon Fang guild."

########################################################

 **From the bar at Fairy Tail:**

 **Mira: Look Lucy, more questions from our readers!**

 **Lucy: Like I Said last time, no one asks any-**

 **Mira: Question One; For Beta-San; Do you base the characters from Beyond Ch. 545 off of other characters from Anime/Manga?**

 **Lucy: Wha?**

 **BetaTest401: I guess it depends. Sometimes, I like to blend characters to make things interesting. For Example, Master Erin is a blend of Zara from Fairy Tail Zero and Nui Harime from Kill la Kill. It doesn't matter really which two characters, just two that would make an interesting combination. Fuyu (the kid from Dragon Fang) is loosely based off of Meliodas from the Seven Deadly Sins, Miniami from Yuri! On Ice, and our very own Natsu! After I find the characters I want mine to be like, I fill in their personality gaps and make up backstories (it's pretty fun, actually. Some are completely made up, however, such as Hoodwink and several other unimportant characters. Story writing can be such a bother!**

 **Mira: No offense, Beta-San, but that's a little weird.**

 **Lucy: I think it's cool!**

 **Mira: Are you feeling okay, Lucy?**

 **Lucy: I'm fine!**

 **Mira: Never mind, let's just move on.**

 **Lucy: Question Two, for us at the guild; Do you ship anyone together?**

 **Mira: Well, obviously Bisca and Alzack, Erza and Jellal, and you and Natsu, an-**

 **Lucy: WHAT?!**

 **M** **ira: Anything, Beta-San?**

 **BetaTest401: *no comment, just sniggering***

##########################################################

 **Holy Moly Guys. Ten Chapters. I know for some of you that's not a big deal, but for me, it's a huge accomplishment. I thought maybe five and then I'd give up, but now I've got ten and don't want to stop! Yay me!**

 **What did you think of the Jerza Chapter? Personally, I liked it a lot, just because I ship it like FedEx. Just sayin'.**

 **Beta's Translation Corner!**

 **Silva- forest**

 **Hope you all had a good time during Independence Day, shooting off fireworks and what not. (I know I did!)**

 **My schedule is still pretty clear, so stay tuned for Ch. 556! Make sure to follow, favorite, or leave a review. You're all amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	11. Chapter 556: What The Shadows Hide

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the fanfic idea is mine, so that's that.**

"What?" Said a mildly surprised Makarov.

"You mean this pipsqueak is their Master?" Asked Natsu.

"Yep, that's me! It's a pleasure!" She giggled. That's when the questions started pouring in.

"What do you damn freaks want with our guild!?"

"Why did you do this to Lu-Chan?!"

"Who do you think you are?!"

"Now, now. I didn't come here to answer your questions-"

"I don't care. Start talking." Said Makarov, magic swelling around him again. Everyone around him shut up.

"Ok. First off, let me say I am completely sorry for what happened to your guild member-"

"You sound almost as though you didn't give the order to attack." Gray accused.

"...I didn't. The wizards responsible were disobeying me-"

"Shut up. Why are you here?" Interrupted Makarov.

"Why, to deliver the final message, of course!" The girl said with a smile.

"I'm listening."

"I'm only gonna say it once, so liste-"

"Tell me now." His magic began to take form of a knife that pointed at the girl. Veins bulged out of his forehead, and the bystanders braced themselves or gave fearful looks toward the angry man. The girl just brushed off the threat and unfolded a piece of paper she had in her hand.

"Ok, ok, I'm going, don't rush me! It goes as follows:

Congratulations, pursuers, you have availed,

Through tedious journeys, you have not failed,

You've done well, that much is true,

So we have one final riddle for you.

Solve it, and you'll find us,

Don't, and you won't.

As simple as it may seem,

The ones who will solve it are most keen.

And so, without further ado,

We present you with a final clue:

Our location hereby lies,

Directly in front of your eyes,

Put the clues together and you will see,

The truth of the riddles, where you want to be."

She giggled a little bit to herself.

"My, Kocel really outdid himself this time." She folded up the paper again as the members of Fairy Tail stared, confused and still very angry. She smiled, then said a little louder:

"Well, Fairies, it's been great, but now our paths diverge-"

"Wait you scum, I didn't say you could leave!" Said an angry Natsu, a Fire-Dragon's Talon a foot from the hologram.

"Best of luck figuring out our riddle!" She peeked out from an inch away Natsu, right towards Lucy, and held out a peace sign. "Sayonara!" The thought projection vanished right as Natsu's spell would have hit it. It crashed into the pavement right in front of the main guild door.

"Dammit!" Yelled a ferocious Natsu, realizing the girl was gone. He charged through the doors, overturning chairs and tables.

"Where is that little-"

"Natsu, stop it!" Said Gray, who had run in after the Dragon Slayer. He held him back to the best of his abilities, while others ran to fix the new dent in the pavement, fix the tables and chairs, or simply turn into smaller groups and nervously discuss the event that had just shocked them all.

All except one, a small girl with light blue, uneven hair dressed in adventurers clothing. Of course, just like everyone else, she was shocked over the current event, but her grief overrode her surprise. In her lap, she cradled he head of one of her greatest friends, who became victim to a terrible spell. Levy wasn't an expert on dark spells, but the effects of the spell were certainly showing themselves. A tear fell on the cheek of the unconscious girl, one of genuine sadness. Because while everyone else was paying attention to the catastrophes around them, Levy was sobbing over one truth she just couldn't bring herself to say out loud.

Lucy was dying. And there was nothing Levy could do.

Her tears were coming out abundantly now, and wishing she could be even remotely useful, whispered to Lucy,

"I'm sorry, Lu-Chan."

" _Yes, cry."_

"I'm so sorry."

" _You're useless, a nothing."_ Levy silently sobbed even more over her friend.

" _Which makes you a perfect target."_ Levy looked up.

A demon, with horns like a ram, a tail like a snake, and a fin on its back was staring at her in the face. It's yellow, cat like eyes flicked and it leaned up to roar. It's scream was like that of a mountain lion, dragging everyone's attention to where the monster was inches from devouring Levy. No one had noticed it's sudden appearance, but now several people were rushing to her side.

"Levy! Run!" Yelled Jet. But he was too late.

As quick as a flash, the monster struck, bearing its foot long fangs and sticking them into Levy's neck. Her scream was even cut short by its speed. It cackled, and as soon as the wizards approached, it disappeared into the brand new gash on the petites neck. Droy, Jet, Gajeel and Natsu leaned over both bodies, now laying side-by-side.

"Squirt! Stay with us!" Gajeel urged, shaking Levy.

"You idiot! Stop that!" Said Jet, trying to stop Gajeel.

"I just don't want her to die!" He Said, now slapping the blue haired mage gently across the face.

"Gajeel, I mean it! Or am I going to have to force you to cut it out?" Now both Jet and Droy were eyeballing the Dragon Slayer. "I'll take you on-"

"Shut up already!" Said Natsu, who had been listening to the bickering. "If you would just shut your asses, you could observe what's going on." He pointed to Levy's body and they all looked and gasped.

Bruises, burns and deep gashes had started appearing on Levy's body, all of which were similar to the ones on Lucy. And also, just like Lucy, Levy's face had started to lose all of its color, turning her the shade of porcelain. Both laid there, like corpses on a battleground. The four men were speechless.

"Wha-" began Jet, "What's happening to them?"

##############################################################

"Everyone stay back!" Yelled Mira, pushing back the angry crowd in the hallway before the Infirmary. Only eleven people had gone into the infirmary, and as of yet, none had come out.

After Jet's statement, Porlyusica Came barging in the crowd.

"Move! Everybody out of my way!" She managed to get to the front of the swarming people.

"The four of you, stay put! Everyone else, get away!" No one argued. As soon as a five foot parameter was established around the party, the healing wizard yelled,

"Hold on! This might hurt a little!" She made a motion with her hands then thrust them towards the six people. Automatically, a large bright blue hexagon forcefield surrounded the six people, and all in unison, the four men yelled in pain. Six wisps of grey magic came out of the people, joining together in order to form the monster that had terrified Levy. The thing appeared to be in pain, holding its ugly head in its hands and shaking. It took one of its hands and tried to break free of its entrapment, but Porlyusica was quicker than the monster.

"With all of the Saints and Heavens agreement," she began to swiftly draw a magic circle.

"With the consent of man, beast and other creatures of the earth, sky and sea," the magic circle was more than halfway finished and now glowing green.

"And with the disapproval of all the evil in existence," the magic circle became complete and shined even furiouser.

"I expel you to the pit of darkness from which you came!" The hexagon then shrunk around the demon, causing it to roar even louder. Porlyusica had now raised her hand in a position where only her ring finger was down. She blinked, and then with the same speed swung her arm down and touched the ground. At that moment, the brightest flash any of the bystanders had seen shot from the demon, as the hexagon suddenly broke into millions of tiny pieces, which disintegrated into thin air. Severe gusts of wind blew outwards as the crystal broke, and by the time the dust had cleared, Porlyusica had rushed up to the small middle group.

"The six of you need to come with me. Don't make any contact or even look at any of your guild mates. Unless, of course, you want them to die."

No one argued. Gajeel lifted Levy over his shoulder, and Natsu carried in Lucy, as the six of them ran to the infirmary, the rest of the guild right on their tails. The stairs creaked greatly, and Porlyusica held open the door as the six dashed in. The first four people that were pursuing slipped in in a blink of an eye, which Porlyusica allowed, and as the fifth person approached the door, Porlyusica cracked the door so that she could whisper:

"Mirajane. This curse is dangerous. Don't let anyone in or out until I say so."

"Yes ma'am." The door shut and locked, and Mirajane began her ranting to the rest of the members.

Hence, our current situation.

######################################################

For the first five seconds of getting in the Infirmary, no one said anything. Natsu and Gajeel laid their selective passengers in the two beds as Porlyusica and Wendy, who was one of the four people who had slipped in, grabbed a handful of herbs and vials from the cabinets. Droy and Jet were now being questioned by the three other people, who were recognized as Gray, Erza, and Makarov.

"Are you Okay?" Asked Erza.

"No symptoms of bruising, bleeding or fatigue?" Asked Makarov.

"We're here for you, let us help."

The two men looked at each other.

"I think I can speak for the both of us-" began Jet, " but, I think we're fine. Just need a little time to process what the heck just happened." All turned to face the healing master, and Erza managed to ask the question that was on the top of their tongues.

"Porlyusica, " She began, "What was that thing? What happened to Lucy and Levy? Does it have something to do with the recent attacks on Fairy-"

"Will you just hush, child!" She fumed angrily, "Let me finish what I'm doing and then I'll explain whatever questions you might have." She was now standing over Levy, and Wendy was standing over Lucy. Both had begun to cast some sort of healing magic, and slowly all of their wounds began to glow and disappear. After about five minutes of this, Porlyusica finally said something.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what has just occurred in front of you. In order to keep everyone in the loop, I'm going to tell what happened as straight forward as I can." She took a breath and looked up.

"That creature is known as Rafios, one of the Seven Demons of Calahara. Many, many decades ago, it ravaged the lands of the north and east, killing all it touched, or bit, so to speak during the Villinonas Wars. The creature, along with its frightening appearance and massive body, also gained the intelligence to speak and to cast magic. It learned Wind Magic, along with spells such as Drain, that make a man lose his magic power."

"That's the same kind of magic that almost killed Master during our battle with Phantom Lord." Pointed out Gray.

"Correct. I have a feeling that these girls are under something of the same sort, only this form of Drain shows the damage on the outside. This spell, I believe is on par or far worse than the one placed on Makarov, and I'm most intrigued that they're both still alive." She looked back down at Lucy.

"Especially this one." Lucy remained still, pale, and slowly breathing. Erza broke the silence.

"Porlyusica, How was Rafios even alive? The Villinonas Wars occurred even before Fiore became a kingdom. He surely would have been dead by now."

"That I am not sure about myself." She admitted. "I know for a fact that during one of the last battles of the war, Rafios was inevitably killed, burned, and buried in an ancient tomb in the middle of no where. There was no possible way he could be alive after that. However!" She shouted suddenly. "I do believe I know why he came back."

"Do explain." Said Makarov. Porlyusica sighed.

"Assuming I'm correct, this makes your opponent more threatening, Makarov." She breathed again.

"I believe that one of their members can reverse time, and because of it, they are able to revive objects of the past." Everyone stayed silent for a second.

"How can you tell?" Asked Gray.

"When I cast Entrapment, it was harder than usual, because someone kept reversing my hand to before I could cast the spell. Also, the cage was less stable, if it would have been at full power when the beast touched it, it would have met its doom. Someone kept trying to reverse time before I cast the spell. Unfortunately for them, my spell was stronger and overpowered theirs." She shifted in her stance and stood up.

"A being that can bring back monsters from the past, and reverse everything you believe. I would suggest extreme caution for all of you, for your own sakes."

##########################################################. Several hours of healing and observing later, Porlyusica and Wendy's efforts began to pay off. Lucy and Levy were showing signs of recovery, much to everyone's relief. After the initial reaction to the girls condition had ended, Porlyusica gave everyone else a look of utter disgust.

"They need rest!" She suddenly exclaimed, "Go away, and no one disturb them until they fully recover!"

"Porlyusica-Sama, aren't you being a little sensitive-" began Erza.

"Out!" Bellowed Porlyusica. Everyone did as they were told, and as she rushed past them to the door, Droy swore he heard her say something about "defiant humans."

"What are we supposed to do?" Asked Gray, Head in his hands. He was sitting at a table with Juvia, Erza, Gajeel and (a scarfless?) Natsu, all of whom had been silent for the past few moments.

"I'm not too sure. Maybe we should try and focus on solving the final riddle, Gray-sama." Suggested Juvia, Who was sitting beside her senpai with a innocent smile. Everyone looked at the blue-haired mage. The chaos that had happened had made everyone temporarily forget they still had one last piece of the puzzle before they could see the whole picture.

"I suppose. But what can we do? None of us are really very good at figuring out things like this." Erza said pessimistically.

"It's almost too ironic that the ones those creeps took out are the ones who we really could use right now." Gajeel included. Everyone sighed. All except one, that is. The misfit who didn't sigh instead buried his fist in the table. His hand was shaking, his mouth a line of absolute anger. He hesitated before saying in a gravelly voice.

"C'mon Guys. Grow up." His pink head of hair also began to shake. "We cannot let our spirits be drug through the mud by a bunch of lunatics without our opinion on it. We may be weaker without two of our greatest members out of play, but that's what should be driving us to work harder. To find out and fight for them. If there's anything those two have taught me, it's that there's always a right answer, sometimes it just takes a little digging to find it. I know we aren't the smartest in the kingdom, but I have faith in all of us that the passion to help our companions will lead us to the right answer." He finally looked up, and his face shocked everyone.

Natsu Dragneel was crying.

"So please," he began to sob, "we can't just give in that easily. We can't. For them."

##########################################################

"I think I have the basic objective of the riddle." Said a triumphant Erza. Herself, Gray and Juvia were sitting over a piece of paper, Mira, Wendy, Carla, Happy and Natsu looking over their shoulders. Erza continued:

" 'Put the clues together' is what I mainly focused on in order to solve it. The main location clues, in other words, the most crucial parts of the sentences put together should put a picture in the mind. Let's all think. What is a guild that has an M emblem, that's second best, and a place where people go to admit to their crimes?" Everyone thought for a moment, then Wendy spoke.

"Hold on guys. What if we've been wrong this whole time?"

"What do you mean, Wendy-San?" Asked Juvia.

"I mean, we've all been naturally assuming that the place we're looking for is a guild. But what if-"

"Are you suggesting it's some other place other than a guild?" Asked Gray.

"I'm only saying, there is no guild I know that has all three of those traits." Wendy confirmed.

"Then What is the place?" Asked Mira. It hit most everyone like a light bulb.

"The Magic Council."

##########################################################

At first, all Lucy could see was a blank area. Grey and bland, like rain clouds on a summers day. Then there was warmth, like cuddling up under a blanket during a snowstorm. It felt comfortable, familiar, soft. She rubbed it up against her face, letting the ends rub across her cheek. She knew what it was, she didn't even have to use her eyes to know. It was something she'd found attached to someone in her bed, or all sweaty in her laundry. It was something belonging to one of the most treasured people in her life.

As she breathed in the the scent, she whispered the name of the person it belonged to.

"Natsu."

##########################################################

"Natsu!" Where are you, you little punk?!" Yelled Gray. Out of all of the days to play hide-and-seek, why today?

The previous night, six out of seven of those who had solved the riddle had decided to head to the Magic Council the next morning. The six included, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, Happy and Natsu. Everyone had showed up, all except the last one. And life would just so have it that the flame-brain was playing the game very well.

"Natsu, come out or we're going to leave without you!" Yelled Gray, doing an about face and heading back toward the guild. A growing worry in his stomach was beginning to grow larger as he saw the rest of the search party had already returned empty handed.

"He's not at his house, not at the guild, not at the fishing pond, or anywhere!"

"Dammit! Where is he? We'll leave his sorry behind-"

"Wait, Erza. What if he's not in Magnolia at all?" Questioned Gray.

"Gray! You're not suggesting he left last night on his own, right?" Gray regretfully nodded. Everyone gasped.

"That idiot!"

##########################################################

The Magic Council had been busy lately. After the rebuilding of their main facility (again) in the small town of Hrdenya, the works had been flowing in like a waterfall. Someone stole this, someone else broke this law, and this person used a forbidden spell. The list was almost never-ending. However, thanks to the effort of the new council, the list had been completed, giving the Said people a little time in the morning.

Footsteps echoed down the empty hallways of the colossal Magic Court building. It was so early, most of the security had not yet taken their places, and the sun had barely showed itself. The rays of sun stretched in between the pillars of the building, making small shadows the pair of feet kept stepping on. The person didn't care though. He was only set on one thing. Finally, he reached the end of the hall, where two huge doors bearing the wizard saint symbol stood, towering over him. They cast the biggest shadows of all, and the man could tell that this is where his enemy was waiting.

"I know you're here, scum. Come out so that I can see you." Silence for a moment, then a boy's obnoxious laugh.

" 'Come out?' That's all you can say? Pathetic." Natsu blinked.

Three teens stepped out of the shadow. The voice belonged to a boy with grey-lilac spiky hair, who was wearing a punk rock shirt and jeans. The girl on the far right had strawberry blonde, long wavy hair, and was wearing a sleeveless pink floral cocktail dress and red ballet flats. She blushed at Natsu's gaze.

The middle one, also a boy, had layered lemon hair that stuck up in some spots, and eyes rivaled that of emeralds. He was dressed in a pair of grey grieves, a layered light blue shirt with green trim, and a pair of loose khaki boots. The three just stood there, returning Natsu's icy glare.

"Who are you?!" He commanded. Another obnoxious laugh, then a more mature voice spoke,

"Now, now, Eli, don't mock him too much. Then he might call the rest of his insufferable friends." Another laugh, but not from the same boy.

Four more figures stepped out. Two, a man and a woman, Natsu recognized from the description Gourd the Tailor had given him, but the other two were a sight to behold. One, a man, who stood behind the boy called Eli, also had lilac hair, and wore leather pants, boots, and a jacket that showed his chest with nothing underneath. The other, also a man, wore a tattered jacket with a white top, untied green tie, and torn khaki capris. His untamed Carmel hair shot like sparks off of his head, and he topped the outfit with an almost crazed look. He was randomly giggling like a maniac. The fight was becoming too real and one sided too fast.

"Who are you!?" Asked Natsu again. This time, his answer was not sniggered at, but straightforwardly answered by a silken voice.

"What an interesting question, Salamander, Natsu Dragneel-Sama." A small group of snowflakes drifted out of the shadows and landed in front of the whole group. The snowflakes then reformed themselves into a woman. She had on a baby blue hood with white fur trim that almost completely covered her, other than her creme boots that stuck out the bottom. The only portion of her face one could see was her dark red lips, which had turned into a semi smile.

Natsu grunted. The Tailor hadn't lied. The woman under the hood was radiating magical power, like a strange and terrifying barrier he did not want to go into. The rest of party giggled fiendishly in the background, as if they could feel the ever rising panic rising in his chest. The two sides stared each other down, in silence, trading only unspoken threats. After a few moments of this, the voice under the hood spoke:

"Fool. Why do you ask us questions you already know the answers to?"

##########################################################

 **I'm baaaaack!**

 **Sorry that took so long guys, my internet was down for like a week, then I've been super slammed with work and, of course, Everyone's friend, Procrastination stayed over for a few weeks. However, I'm back, boys! (For real, hopefully...)**

 **In case anyone's confused, allow me to explain why the final riddle's answer was the Magic Council:**

 **M Emblem-(that's obvious right?)**

 **Second Best-refers to the fact that the Magic Council is the second most important form of government in Fiore, besides the Royal Government.**

 **Where Sinners go to Repent-(also pretty obvious, but) because the Magic Council is a court system, it is a place where wizards go to either get proved not guilty or guilty, hence, that's when they repent.**

 **Don't know when next chapter will be out, but hopefully soon, because we're out of the slow part. Yay! Everything will start making sense soon, I promise.**

 **Don't forget to Follow, Favorite or leave a Review! I love hearing what you guys think!**

 **Oh, and by the way...**

 **You're all amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	12. Chapter 557: Arrive! What to Expect?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However, the fanfic idea is mine, so that's that.**

" _Dammit."_

Natsu Dragneel had been fighting since birth. Not just with magic, but psychologically as well, ever since he could remember. He thought he was the best at it too, Igneel had told him so.

Apparently not.

A steady stream of anxiety was beginning to creep its way up his throat. The past five minutes had been nothing but a stance, almost as if he was in a repeating time loop. The thing was, he wasn't in the best predicament, and the only thing that really was going through his mind as he stared down his opponents was the same phrase.

" _Dammit."_

The silence continued for a few more minutes as he caught his breath. Then his confidence returned and he blurted:

"What the hell do you want with us?"

The voice under the hood giggled fiendishly.

"We simply wish for you to play a game with us, that's all. No harm in a little game, right?"

"You people have a twisted sense of fun games. But no matter." His fist became enveloped in Flame.

"I'll take you all on."

"As much as we would like to beat you senseless," began the man in the back, "We only have one purpose here." He, and the rest of the people in the back, turned to look at the woman with auburn hair. She nodded. Two things happened right in the same moment right afterwards.

One, a bright light shot from the woman's hand, hitting the doors behind them. It was blinding and Natsu diminished the flame to cover his eyes.

Two, the entire group disappeared. They were gone at the blink of an eye. All Natsu could do was look at the ground where they had once stood, feeling completely useless.

"NATSU!" Yelled an angry voice from behind him. Gray, Erza, Wendy, Happy, and Carla we're heading towards him at full speed.

"You mindless moron! What happened?" Demanded Erza as they caught up.

Natsu was unable to speak, "I... they... suddenly gone." That was all Erza needed to hear.

"Everyone, look for clues that could give us the location of any person who just left and where they might be headed. " Everyone looked around in the Shadows, on the walls, and finally Gray saw it.

"Umm... Erza? I think you should see this." Everyone looked as he pointed to the doors.

Sunlight was creeping up on the dark oak. Vines, darker than evergreen trees, were moving, almost inhumanely. They had formed two numbers on the wall.

"Those are coordinates." Said Erza, moving closer. "If my calculations are correct, then..."

"I'll write them down." Wendy offered, as she wrote it on a little slip of paper she pulled from her bag. She had just finished scratching the last number down when a voice that was familiar only to Natsu echoed in the giant hallway.

"See you soon, Fairy Tail." And even though he couldn't see them, Natsu knew the lips under the hood were pursed in sick delight.

#########################################################

"So let me get this straight." Gray said, in a carriage on the way back to Magnolia, "You had this grand idea to go off by yourself in the dead of night to go and confront our enemies, who we know little or nothing about, alone."

A sick Natsu wobbly nodded.

"Why does that not surprise me."

#########################################################

"What? You know where they are?" Asked Makarov who was the first to find out as soon as the party got back to the guild. Everyone who had gone was standing in front of the Master.

"Yes. From my guesses, their guild is located in the small forest on the other side of the Crocus Mountains. I believe it is called the Kiba Wood." Erza stated.

"I've heard of that forest before, but last time I checked, it was unaccompanied." Gray pointed out.

"Apparently not. Many people avoid going there for superstitious reasons, but if the ones we seek have indeed taken up residence there, I see no evidence that it's dangerous." Replied Erza.

"We should send out a party to travel then."

"Yes, I agree."

"An adventure, huh? Count me in!" Came a voice to their right. A familiar face was coming down the stairs and heading towards them.

"Levy-Chan! I'm so happy you're alright!" Gasped Wendy, running up to her and giving her a hug.

"Yeah, everything's all good with me!" She said, smiling. Everyone had now walked to gather around her. All were asking about her well being, which made it the perfect time for one person to sneak off.

"Natsu! Where are you going?!" Happy Said as the Dragon Slayer ran up the stairs and down to the Infirmary. He almost busted down the door, and gasped when he entered the room.

There was Lucy, propped up in her bed. She had a little tray of soup on her lap, and her hair had been tied back into a ponytail. But that wasn't what surprised him, the fact that she had healed so fast did. She smiled as soon as she realized who had just barged in on her.

"Hey Natsu. Wha-"

"I'm so glad you're okay!" He Said, running up to embrace her. It caught her by surprise. "I was so worried! I thought you were gonna die and-"

"Owwwwww!" She exclaimed. "Natsu, you big idiot!" She punched him in the arm.

"Ouch. What was that for?" He asked stupidly, only to realize he had dumped her scalding soup all over her.

"That, genius!" She said, "Go get some towels!"

#########################################################

"I've decided." Makarov had called a meeting to the entire guild, where he had discussed all of the events that had happened.

"We will be going to this location in order to confront our foe. The team will consist of Erza, Gray, Natsu, Happy, Juvia, Gajeel, Wendy, Carla, and myself. Mira will handle the affairs here until I return." Everyone whispered about the chosen ones.

"Master, wait. I can't say that I agree to that decision." Spoke a blonde in the middle of the crowd.

"Lucy-" began the Master, softly.

"I don't care if I'm injured or even dying. Those creeps did something to me that I'm ashamed to admit. I need to prove to myself that by helping you on this mission, I can be avenged and defeat the one who hurt me. To me, that's part of being a Fairy Tail wizard."

There was silence for a minute, then Makarov spoke.

"I admire your resolve and morale, Lucy." He thought a minute more, "Very well. I grant you passage tomorrow with us." Then he spoke to the whole group.

"We will leave tomorrow at dawn. Dismissed!"

#########################################################

"No, Natsu, I'm fine, I don't need you to carry my things for me-"

"Don't argue with me, Luce." Said the Dragon Slayer, giving her the "just let me do it"

look.

"Fine, But you better not drop my suitcase, it has all my clothes in it!"

The morning sun was just barely beginning to rise, making the sun look coral colored. Lucy looked at the reflection in the water of the river, Natsu on her left carrying her things, and Happy, still half asleep, flying next to him. The three had met earlier at Lucy's apartment. At least, that's what Natsu had called it.

"We were just making sure you hadn't changed your mind." He had said.

"I haven't!" Which is what Lucy had yelled back, throwing a pillow at his face.

"You can just tell me you're coming over, you know. You don't have to break into my apartment every time." The blonde bluntly stated.

"Yeah, But What fun is that?" Said Natsu, giving her a smile. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"How about we talk about the mission instead?" She suggested. He nodded yes.

"What do you think is gonna happen?"

He hesitated a moment, then said, "I don't know, but I do know some serious but-kicking is gonna happen! I'm all fired up!" She sighed.

"I don't even know why I bother talking to you. You awake over there, Happy?"

"Aye." The Guild was in sights at this point. Everyone else who had been selected was already there, some already getting into one of two carriages.

"Morning you three." Said Makarov as they approached. "You are all in the same carriage as Wendy and Carla. As soon as everyone is settled, we will depart. " They all nodded and then began to climb into their respective carriages. They waited a few moments, then heard the sound of wheels start clacking. And then the sound of three sick Dragon Slayers.

#########################################################

"Master." Said a voice from the shadows, "It appears our plan has been set in motion. Fairy Tail is on it's way now."

The Said person smiled, "Very good, Hoodwink. Tell the others to make preparations."

"Yes Master. And what shall I do?" Asked the person.

The small girl smiled.

"You already know what to do."

#########################################################

After several hours of travel, (and moaning and groaning) later, the large expanse of forest stretched before the party of Fairy Tail members. They got off their carriages and began to look for some subtle hint that might lead to the place they were seeking. Lucky for them, their rivals were kind enough to give it straight to them. After a few minutes of searching, they found a path, overgrown with brambles and thorns, but obviously well worn. Everyone knew that their rivals were at the end of the path, not even doubting their intuition. They all began to walk down the path, single file, all alert looking for any other signs of life.

"Man, I see why this place can give some people the creeps." Said Gray, kicking a rock of the trail.

"Juvia thinks it is quite beautiful here." Said She, touching a leaf as she walked by a tree.

"It's too quiet."

"Juvia likes the silence."

"But-"

"Will the both of you just be silent?" Asked Erza impatiently. They continued walking for another mile, then Lucy shouted from the front of the line,

"I think I see something!" Everyone began running at that point. What they saw when they got to the point Lucy had talked about, it shocked them all.

Ruins, overgrown and broken, were abundant in a large clearing. Wildflowers and weeds alike grew in the open space, fragile and beautiful. Everyone just stood there shocked.

"It was a hoax! They tricked us!" Said Erza angrily. Everyone else started yammering on in frustration as well. That was until, the ground beneath them started to shake.

"Pardon my lateness, Fairy Tail, I'm not too good with time." Said a voice. In front of all of them, a pile of dirt that everyone had disregarded before reformed into a woman. She had bushy auburn hair, and was wearing a plaid red flannel crop top and short khaki shorts along with some hiking boots. She flipped her hair.

"I..It's you!" Exclaimed Natsu, recognizing her from the Magic Council incident.

"Hello again, Natsu Dragneel-Sama. And hello to all." She was met by silence.

"Allow me to explain why I am here. You have indeed found our location, it is no trick."

"You lie. If this really is your guild, then it's pathetic. Ruins aren't all that classy." Said Gajeel rudely.

She smirked, "You claim to see everything, but in reality you do not. There is more to this place than the ignorant eye can see, and if you'd allow me, I would like to help you see it." Everyone looked at her.

"I will need to see your guild marks in order to show you the way." Everyone obliged.

"Very good. Do not move." She turned around, her back to the others. She reached her hand out in front of her.

"Oh, protector of the sacred halls,

I pray that you would let us all past to see what you hold."

Suddenly, invisible vines peeled away from the middle of the sky, revealing a barrier. This startled everyone, but what was really surprising was what was inside the fortress.

A giant castle, ancient looking but still majestic, towered in the front of them. A giant banner had been hoisted onto the posts before the gates, one bearing the same sign as the Reveal paper had. The Dragon rearing it's head towered above the members of Fairy Tail, intimidating and superior. The woman walked forward into the barrier, then made a gesture to the front gates.

"Welcome to Dragon Fang, Fairy Tail."

#########################################################

 **Emergency Request: Explain The Mysteries Of Beyond Ch. 545!**

 **Mira: Mountain-Lion-Poooon!**

 **Lucy: Mira, don't start that again.**

 **Mira: Why, it's fun!**

 **Lucy: *sigh* Let's just get to the first question.**

 **Mira: Alright, fine. Question One: Why did you decide to call the rival guild Dragon Fang, Beta-San?**

 **Lucy: I've been wondering about that myself.**

 **Beta-San: You'll find out next episode!**

 **Mira: Gah! Suspense! Moving on!**

 **Lucy: Question Two: Hoodwink... who the heck is she?**

 **Beta-San: Also can't tell you.**

 **Mira: For Mashima's sakes Beta-San! Anything you can tell us?**

 **Beta-San: ...I'm all fired up?**

 **Mira: Argh!**

 **Lucy: And that's it for today!**

#########################################################

 **Some serious crap is about to go down guys! I've been waiting since I started writing the story to write what happens next, and I'm Super Excited! I'm gonna try my best to write this part of the story the best that I can, and I hope you all like it!**

 **As always, please follow, favorite and leave a review.**

 **You're all amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	13. Chapter 558: The First Night

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However the fanfic idea is mine, so that's that.**

No one spoke. For a minute, it was almost as though the small party had been replaced with inanimate objects. Even Makarov was dumbfounded.

"Oh, for pity's sake, don't be afraid. It's perfectly safe you see, the barrier is only for protection. Come, come." She walked down the pathway to the front doors, then held them open. Everyone unfroze, then followed in her footsteps to the main doors. They were large and oaken, and they shut with a thud as the last person entered and the woman shut the door. The hallway ahead was massive and a little dark it only by lights on the walls. She walked through the rest of the party, then said:

"Follow me please. I will try to explain everything." She began walking down the hallway, and everyone followed. The hall ended, leading out into a larger room made entirely of white and grey marble. The ceiling stretched high above the floor. Everyone uttered in awe. The sun shined brightly in here though, and the woman began to talk.

"Welcome to Dragon Fang, a guild forged by our own Master, Erin Kido. Population of the guild is about 75 people, and we were established two years ago." She was now walking into another room, this one even more massive with two long white staircases lined with red carpets. The hall continued on the back wall, and the room was just as bright. Several pictures of various forest landscapes hung on the wall, and the east wall was completely made of glass.

"This building was a military fortress back in the ancient wars. Of course we've done renovating, but the foundations belonged to to the commander of the Fiore legion army, and was used in times past. The protective barrier makes the castle invisible to the naked eye. Only people who know the key can enter. Back before we had become an official guild, we happened to stumble upon the ruins and fortress, and decided to make it the main guild building. We have continued to thrive here since." She started walking down the hallway into the most big room yet, only this time there was four staircases. On one of the staircases sat the Dragon Fang master herself, Erin. She hopped off the banister and ran to Makarov.

"So you're Fairy Tail's Master, huh? I'm so excited to finally meet you in person! I've heard so many great things about you and your guild!" She smiled.

"Oh, but that's not that important. Can I join you on your tour, Jodi?"

"Of course, Master." Said the woman, "I was just about to go introduce them to their practice grounds and the courtyard."

"Oh, wonderful! In that case, I'll go make preparations for when you return instead!" She turned to Makarov. "Won't you please come with me? We have a great many things to discuss." He nodded.

"Wait, Master-" Exclaimed Erza as he departed.

"I'll be fine. You all enjoy yourselves." He went up the staircase with the girl and disappeared into the darkness at the top.

"Now, shall we continue?" Said the woman called Jodi. She walked over to the party's right and opened a sliding glass door in the middle of the wall. Everyone followed her outside. A plain of stone paths that were separated by bushes, trees and flowers stretched across a few miles of land. Bright and rich purples, blues, greens, pinks, yellows and oranges flashed on the ground. A large fountain of a serpent was running in the middle of the courtyard. Several birds chirped from the trees. Overall, it was beautiful.

In both the western and eastern-most directions were two identical looking glass domes, small and gleaming in the sun. The northern-most part of the garden was a wooden wall with a drawing engraved onto it. The picture showed a dragon, one that looked similar to the Guild's Emblem, rampaging through a forest. Even though it was of a gruesome scene, the picture looked alluring. The southern part of the garden was taken up by several identical glass doors that led inside the castle. The woman turned and began to walk all the way around the rim of the garden, so that the Fairy Tail members could get a panoramic view.

"This is our courtyard. All of our festivities are held here, and many of our members use this as a solitude to read or train." They began to approach the first of the two smaller domes. As they looked inside, they saw an explosion. Everyone flinched as an initial reaction, but then soon realized they were in no danger.

"Relax, nothing can penetrate this substance." The dust cleared, and the party saw two wizards in the middle of sparing. One was a boy of about Wendy's age, who had lilac-gray hair. The other was a boy of the same age with lemon hair. They were recognized by Natsu right away.

"I have seen them before, at the new Era building."

"Yes, you have." She stopped and then pointed to the boy with gray-lilac hair, "that is the one who can create anything from nothing, Eli the matter Dragon." She pointed to the other boy, "And that is the one who can dance with a million blades of ice, Fubuki Getsugi. Both of them are considered to be one of our guild's strongest members-"

"Ha! They're just kids? What harm could they possibly-" Another explosion.

"-do? Well, fine, who else is strong in your guild that I can beat?" Natsu challenged.

"According to the amount of fighting capabilities each member of our guild has, the top three members of our guild would be myself, the Space Dragon, Kazeh, and-" She paused mid-sentence.

"And?"

"It's not really a comparison, actually. _Her_ strength is far greater than Kazeh's or mine-"

"Who is she?" Asked Wendy. Jodi breathed before answering.

"The ace of Dragon Fang, the very embodiment of the winter itself, Hoodwink."

##########################################################

After showing the members of Fairy Tail their training grounds, which happened to be the other dome on the western side of the garden, their guide walked them back inside. She walked up one set of stairs, then another, then another. When it seemed they could go no higher, the woman gestured down a hallway of doors.

"There should be enough rooms to accommodate your current number of members that are present. You may pick which ever room you want and get settled in, then please report to the dining area for dinner this evening. You can get there by going the same way we came, then going down the hallway to your left until you reach it. We will all be waiting for you then, but do not hesitate to ask for any assistance if needed from myself or any others."

"Thank you for your hospitality. I think we should be able to manage as of now." Replied Erza.

"Very well then. See you at sunset." The woman descended back down the stairs as everyone from the guild stood and just tried to process what had happened the entire afternoon.

"I can't believe we're actually here." Said Lucy, "I mean, I'm pretty much still in denial of the whole fact we made it."

"I think we all are." Said Gray, who was leaning against the wall.

"How could they have concealed something so great for all this time and no one notice?" Asked Wendy.

"Everyone except the Magic Council thought the fortress had been abandoned for years, and no one wanted to investigate due to the rumors of the forest." Said a voice which was coming up the stairs and that belonged to Makarov. He arrived at the top of the stairs.

"They thought it would be a good place to start developing their guild. Not bad thinking."

"Master," interrupted Erza, "What do they want with us?" Makarov looked at the hallway of Fairy Tail guildmates, then smiled.

"Apparently," He Said, "They want to take us on!"

##########################################################

"What!?" Exclaimed Everyone in the hall.

"Master, you can't be serious." Said Carla.

"I'm telling you the absolute truth. To quote their Master specifically, 'Since the Grand Magic Games don't occur for another year, and we didn't want to wait, we just thought we would take the top spot for ourselves by sweeping out from underneath the first place holders.' I scoffed at that for everyone." Everyone was silent.

"This is indeed a great deal to process," Said the Master, "So I want everyone to separate into bedrooms and relax for a while. Like your guide said, dinner will be served at sunset, and then, we will meet all the members of this guild."

"Master, wait." Said Natsu.

"Hm?" Said Makarov.

"Did you agree to face them off?"

"Not yet-"

"Because I'm all fired up!" Everyone sighed. Classic Natsu.

##########################################################

There were two beds per room, so everyone decided accordingly who they would stay with: Lucy and Erza, Gray and (with some arguing) Juvia, Wendy and Carla, Natsu and Happy, and then Gajeel and Lily. Makarov was staying in the Master's Suite at the end of the hall. Everyone began to settle in, and as Lucy folded her clothes in the dresser, Erza began to talk to her friend.

"I still can't believe the goal they're trying to accomplish here." She paused for a split second, "Not only are they suggesting a full-fledged magic battle royale, but they actually think they can beat us. Here is a guild that no one has even seen before, attempting to take the place of strongest guild on the continent. It's just mind boggling."

"Yeah, you're right." Said Lucy, laying on the opposite bed as Erza. She then summoned Plue, who crawled up and sat on her lap. Both just stayed silent for a moment, staring up at the ceiling before Lucy asked:

"Why are they so confident, and what's in it for them?"

##########################################################

Finally, the sun set over the hills to the west where the two girls could see from out their windows. Both were ready by that time, and they met the Master, Wendy, Carla, Juvia and Lily in the hall.

"Gray-sama and Gajeel-chan won't be long." Said Juvia, "They are just waking up Natsu-San and Happy-San." Everyone laughed, not surprised. The four walked out of Natsu and Happy's bedroom a few moments later, and then the party left for the downstairs dining area. They followed the steps Jodi had given them earlier, and not surprisingly, when they arrived, they heard many voices through the door. It was white, and it pushed open without much effort.

Inside was a great room, much like Fairy Tail's main lobby. There was no request board or bar in the back, only several wooden tables that had matching velvet tapered seats. The whole room was lit up by candles on the tables and on the walls, so it was a little dark in the room. Velvet curtains also covered the windows on the west and northern walls. There was a few steps down that you had to take to reach all of this as well.

On the benches, however, sat a great mass of people. Some sat in pairs, sharing a meal as friends, some sat as groups drinking, and others sat alone, reading or simply staring off into oblivion.

There was one specific table in the center of the room that drew everyone's attention. It was wooden just like every other one, only this one was bigger and more square-like than the rest. Multiple people sat around it, and immediately, Natsu recognized all of them. However, before he could say anything, a familiar face peeked around the corner where the door was.

"I'm glad to see you made it!" Said Master Erin, looking around cheerily at them, "We have already prepared your food, but first I want to introduce you all." The small girl snapped her fingers, and a noise like a strike of lightning sounded, causing everyone in the room to stop what they were doing and look up at the Fairy Tail guild members.

"Everyone!" Began Erin, "These are our potential competitors. Even thought they are our opponents, I want everyone to treat them with upmost respect, ok?" Everyone nodded, then turned back to what they were doing. Then Erin turned to the party from the rival guild:

"You are all sitting with us, I hope you don't mind." She said, gesturing to the largest table, where Natsu had recognized all the people from Era, "Plus, it might be a good time for you to meet your competitors."

##########################################################

Everyone obliged, and walked to the table. The members of Dragon Fang that were currently stitting at the table moved so that everyone could fit. At first, Natsu was skeptically sitting at the table in the first place, but once they brought out his food, that ended quickly. The members of Dragon Fang also were not one to retract conversation. As soon as the members of Fairy Tail sat down, a voice from the opposite end spoke,

"Well, if it isn't the Fairies. Glad to see you are all here, finally." That came from the boy with lilac-grey hair, Eli.

"We are glad to have made it. It's not like finding this place was a walk in the park."

"Okay, fine, I'll give you that. Kocel's riddles always stump everyone." Said Jodi. At the mention of the name, the man with the messy hair and undone tie only Natsu had seen before perked up his head.

"Kocel? Pardon, but we aren't good with names quite yet." Said Lucy.

"Oh, yeah, it might help if you knew all of our names." Said Jodi. She started at the far left of the table, "Over at the head, of course, is Master Erin, keeper of Dragon Fang. Next to her are the Time and Space Dragons, Kocel and Matoko. Next to them are the Matter and Water Dragons, Eli and Tidewell. My name is Jodi, as you know, and I'm the Earth Dragon. Next to me is my little cousin, Briru, who is my Wrmling, also studying earth magic. Next to her is Fuyu the Winter Wrmling. There is one more who went to go get some more food, but she'll be back momentarily."

"What is a 'Wrmling'?" Asked Wendy.

"A Wrmling is an apprentice of one of the great wizards in Dragon Fang. They learn the magic of one of the great dragons, and then utilize the skills they've learned to create their own forms of the magic." Said the boy called Fuyu.

"That's amazing!" Replied Wendy. He blushed in return.

"Another question." Said Gray.

"I'm all ears." Said Erin.

"Why do you even call yourselves 'Dragons and Wrmlings'? There's a generic name, for what you are, a wizard. I know you guys are called Dragon Fang, But why go to such lengths and decide to call yourselves something different?"

"Because," Said a new voice that Natsu recognized. It was the woman in the hood. She was now sitting across from them.

"Why would you want to call an entire guild of Dragon Slayers some boring name like a wizard would?"

##########################################################

"What?!" Exclaimed every Fairy Tail guild member at the table.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that, Makarov. Everyone in our guild possesses Dragon Slaying Magic." Everyone looked on in shocked silence. Then suddenly, Natsu stood up on the table and yelled:

"Now I'm even more fired up! We accept your challenge!"

##########################################################

 **Emergency Request: Explain the Mysteries of Beyond Ch. 545!**

 **Mira: Mountain-lion-poooon!**

 **Lucy: Would you cut that out?!**

 **Mira: Why, it's fun!**

 **Lucy: *sigh* Let's just move on with our first question.**

 **Mira: Can you please tell us who you based all the characters off of? For Beta-San, of course.**

 **Beta-San- Some characters are still lacking development. But here's the ones I do know:**

 **-Eli is based of off Black Star from Soul Eater.**

 **-Jodi is loosely based off of Matsumoto Rangiku from Bleach.**

 **-Kocel is based off of Sol from the Phantom Lord Arc.**

 **-Briru is based off of a friend that I have in real life, Ma-Chan.**

 **-Tidewell is based off of Aoyama from BNHA**

 **There's more, I just can't remember them. (I've been sick for more than a week, and I'm done with life.)**

 **Mira: Oh, goodness. Get well Beta.**

 **Lucy: And on to our next question! For us here at the guild: Are you all going to face off a guild made completely of Dragon Slayers?!**

 **Mira: I dunno! You'll have to find out next episode!**

 ***Entire small fan-base*- ARGHHhHh!**

##########################################################

 **Waaaaasup my fellow readers? Like it said in the above epilogue, I have been extremely sick and unable to work, so I threw this together. (It's terrible, I know) But I hope you guys like it.**

 **I don't know how long it's going to be before I post again, so don't get your hopes up!**

 **Don't forget to write a review, follow and favorite. You're all amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	14. Chapter 559: We Accept

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. However the fanfic idea is mine, so that's that.**

For a long minute, there was complete and utter stunned silence around the whole table. Then, there was a wallop.

"Never mind this crazy fool." Said Erza, who had hit Natsu so hard there was a bump on his head. "He knows not what he says."

"It's fine. After all, the decision should be made by your Master. Isn't that right, Makarov-"

"I'm sure Gramps wants to fight you as much as I do! C'mon old man, you know you want-" he stopped short as Erza gave him the Death Glare.

"I'm sorry!" Said Natsu going back to eating.

"What an idiot." Said Gray.

"What'd you call me, Exhibitionist?"

"You heard me, You Infuriating Inferno. I oughta-"

"Will the both of you just shut up?!" All of Fairy Tail laughed for a minute, then reality slapped them in the face again.

"How is everyone in your guild a Dragon Slayer? I thought they were very rare wizards!" Exclaimed Wendy.

"Well, not everyone is specifically a 'Dragon Slayer.' Most of them who possess magic that was specifically used in assistance to defeat dragons, like support magic. Then you have the wrmlings, who are learning Dragon Slaying magic, well on their way to becoming very powerful. Finally, you have the Dragon Slayers, who belong in the highest rankings of the guild schematic. Matoko and myself are both second-generation lacrima Dragon Slayers. Eli uses a more evolved type of space magic which he made himself after Matoko's training. We are the only three who weren't raised by a Dragon. Tidewell and Kocel are both third generation Dragon Slayers, raised by the Sea and Time Dragons. Finally, Hoodwink is our only first generation Dragon Slayer, having been born and raised high up in the mountains by the Winter Dragon. These factors contribute largely to our magic power and fighting strength." Jodi explained.

"I see." Said Erza, who then took a swig of her mug of ale. There was a moment of silence, then:

"So Salamander-sama, is it true that the Fire Dragon Igneel raised you?" Asked Eli. He was immediately clobbered by his older brother.

"Shut up, you dumbass!"

"What the hell did I do?!" The boy retorted.

"You know what you-"

"If I knew do you think I-"

"Yes, you would-"

"Why you stupid-"

"Boys!" Yelled Jodi, which quieted them both down.

"No, it's fine." Said Natsu, "I get asked about it all the time. And yes, it is true, he raised me for the first seven years of my life."

"Wow! That's cool! Tidewell and Kocel say they were too, but if you ask me, they're too dense to have been raised by dragons." The man in the fedora stood up very suddenly, his short baby blue hair swishing back from his brown eyes.

"If you'd like to keep your life, young Eli, I suggest you withhold your opinions that no one asked for." His voice was smooth and a little high pitched. The disheveled man nodded in agreement.

"Is that a threat, Water Boy? 'Cause if it is I'll kick your ass-"

"For pity's sakes, shut up." Said Matoko, standing up and glaring at his brother and then sitting again. Eli scoffed, then sat down.

"Not like I have to listen to you, you dummy-"

"Alright, I've had enough of this!" Said the older brother, punching the boy. The force from the hit sent the boy flying across the room. The mass of tables were moved and several people became drenched in their food.

"Oh, you wanna go, huh?!" Said Eli, running fast and head butting his older brother in the stomach. The two started full-on brawling, food and furniture were being destroyed, and chaos was beginning erupt. Several others had attempted to break up the two main fighters, but then got dragged into the fight themselves. Now, just about everyone in the room was getting beaten or beating up one another.

All Fairy Tail could do was watch what was happening around them with awe on their faces. Master Erin, who had not gotten involved and was sitting drinking a cup of tea, spoke to the opposing guild, "My apologies for all of their behavior, this always-" She was stopped short by laughter from the Fairy Tail guild members.

"This is just fine! It reminds me so much of our guild, I can't hold back!" Said Makarov, a chorus of laughter erupting from his throat and everyone else's.

"Well, this is a relief. It should be stopping any second now-" And then it did.

Giant spikes of ice zoomed through the doorway, pegging into the walls and furniture and nearly hitting some of the now terrified guild members. There was complete and utter silence. A smokescreen of snow huddled at the entrance to the door, and after a few milliseconds, a person walked through it. Natsu looked up and froze.

The woman in the hood was walking right towards the table. In the better light, everyone could see the long, flowing grey-blue hood which barely touched the ground and covered her body entirely. The only thing one could see were her creme boots which stuck out slightly from the cloak, the rest of her body cloaked in shadow. Even though she walked upright, the hood was so long that only the lower half of her face could be seen. She walked down the stairs and approached the table. There was an untouched plate laying on the table, which she extended her pale hand to grab. But before she did that, an ice blade grew out of her hand, with which she threw with such force that it stuck in the wall a half inch above Eli's head. He whimpered and stood there, face frozen with terror.

"Be careful what you say aloud, Futoshi. That was the last straw." The hooded figure said, then with swift motions, she grabbed the plate and left. As she walked out, her pupil grabbed his barely eaten plate and ran to catch up with her. As the two walked out of the room, the spikes of ice and smoke screen of snow disappeared, and finally the whole room breathed. People began to set up the tables and chairs again and sit in them, resuming their conversations with a bit of awkwardness. Eli unfroze and silent walked and sat down back in his spot.

"You looked like you were gonna pee yourself, Eli!" Yelled someone in the background.

"Shut up!" The receiver yelled back. Then he spoke in a quieter voice, "Damn Hoodwink. Who the hell does she think she is?!"

"You know very well what happens when you provoke her, little brother." The response to that was another curse word.

"So, Master Erin," Said Gray, regaining some of his breath, "How exactly would this tourney work?"

"It is quite simple really. The teams from both Fairy Tail and Dragon Fang Will consist of eight people. The master from each guild will pick one person to lead the team, a captain if you will, and the rest of the members will be decided by the preliminary round. After the teams have been decided, one on one battles will occur until a victor is decided. The guild that emerges victorious will be crowned strongest guild in Fiore."

"Oh, so it really will be similar to the Grand Magic Games."

"Mhm. Only the most strongest members of both guilds are allowed to participate, which is essential in finding out the true victor. So even if you agree, we'd still have to wait for your entire guild to get here to check and see who is the strongest."

"What is the preliminary round exactly?" Asked Lucy, shuddering.

"A battle royale, of course!"

#########################################################

Everyone took a minute to think. Mixed thoughts occurred in Everyone's heads, but eventually, everyone had come to a consensus decision.

Erin took the silence as a sign. "If you all need a little time to think about this, you can respond tomorrow-"

"No, we've had well enough time to consider." Said Makarov, "and I think hearing the details about everything only swayed us more." He paused for a minute, in which everyone nodded at him.

"I will get a communications lacrima and alert Mirajane. We accept the challenge to face you off in this Fatales Eripitur Bellum."

#########################################################

The rest of dinner resolved smoothly. Polite and intelligent conversation was carried out between all members of both guilds, while everyone ate and drank until they were full. Afterwards, everyone went up to their rooms, the tension on their shoulders lifted. Everyone said goodnight, then retreated to their rooms for a bit of peaceful sleep. Everything seemed to be perfect at that moment, and everyone slept soundly that night, they had no idea what the future days would hold.

#########################################################

The next day everyone woke up bright and early, got ready and headed downstairs. When the party arrived there was a note on the door to the dining hall which said:

" _The rest of your guild arrived early this morning. We are having breakfast in the courtyard as soon as everyone wakes up_."

Everyone acknowledged the sign, and then they all headed out as a group to the courtyard from the previous day. Benches with white tablecloths covered the cobblestone paths, while in the center, a buffet with all types of breakfast foods sat on shiny platters on white covered tables. Several people had already started eating, and the group recognized a certain family who they had to greet.

"Mira!" Exclaimed Lucy, giving the eldest sister of the Strauss family a hug.

"Oh, Good Morning everyone!" Said Mira cheerfully. "I'm glad to see you are all doing well. The rest of us at the guild were sick with worry, so as soon as we got word from the Master we left right away!"

"It was kinda creepy though, because it was dark, all of the idiots kept trying to scare us." Said Lisanna, shivering. Everyone else chuckled.

"We should all sit together!" Mira suggested. Everyone though it was a good idea, so after a minute about four five feet long tables had been pushed together. Natsu didn't bother helping with this whole endeavor. He didn't even bother even saying hello to Mira and the others until he had gone around the buffet, his plate a big swarming mass of Gohan. Everyone sighed. Classic Natsu.

As more time passed, more members of both guilds came out of the castle and began to eat their breakfasts. Everyone was overjoyed to see Natsu's comrades again, and delightful conversation was spread throughout the spacious courtyard.

"Hey, by the way." Said Mira, putting a bit of rice into her mouth, "I didn't see the Master with you this morning. Is he okay?"

"I think so. He said last night that he might not join us at breakfast until later, so he probably had other things to discuss with Master Erin." Erza explained.

"You're probably right." They continued eating for a few minutes, and then suddenly a sound echoed like an explosion. At the north end of the courtyard where there were no tables, Master Makarov had transformed into his dark giant form, which gathered the attention of just about everyone in the courtyard. Master Erin was standing on his left, arms crossed.

"Everyone from both Dragon Fang and Fairy Tail!" Makarov's voice boomed, "Due to an agreement between Master Erin and I, the preliminary tournament will begin exactly one hour from now. We both suggest finishing up your breakfast and then going to prepare for everything that may or may not happen during the battle. Everyone needs to meet us in the woods behind the castle at that time will announce the chosen two right before beginning. Is that clear?" Everyone nodded, and then the Master shrunk back to his original size. Some of the people who were sitting at tables got up and ran to go start training in their respective ways, and others just sat and talked some more. Makarov reached the table and then sat Indian-style on the table between Erza and Mira.

"Master! Glad to see you!"

"You as well, Mira." He said, "Sure am glad you made it here alright."

"Agreed." There was a moment of silence among the three.

"Master, I've been doing some thinking, and I want to ask you something." Erza confessed after a minute.

"Sure, go ahead." Said Makarov.

"Well, did Erin verify this with the Magic Council? If not, they could be trying to get us all arrested-"

"Yes, she did. I already asked." Explained Makarov.

"I see." More silence, then in just a whisper, Makarov spoke to both girls:

"I need you both to do something for me."

#########################################################

After an hour of training, procrastination, worry and pride passed, all members from both guilds assembled in a gigantic cluster on the edge of the forest approximately two minutes before noon. There was quite a bit of space between the trees, so one could see that this part of the forest was well kept. A gigantic boulder stood menacingly before the mass, grey and intimidating. Everyone talked with members of their respective guilds in hushed whispers, all until two figures emerged on top of the Boulder.

"Greetings all!" Said Master Erin. "And welcome to the preliminary round of Fatales Eripitur Bellum! We've been watching how hard everyone has worked in the past hour, and can we say, all of you have a fair shot of becoming one on your respective teams!" There was a round of applause.

"Now, now, we will go ahead and get into the rules. Master Makarov-" Makarov cleared his throat.

"We will give one minute for everyone to run into the forest, and then the battles will begin. Defeat enemies of the opposing guild in order to win. The last seven standing from both teams will become contenders. Use your magic wisely, any spells used to cause death to any living being will result in disqualification. It is every man for himself, so give it everything you've got."

As soon as Makarov finished, Erin pulled out a piece of paper and began to read:

"The chosen one for Dragon Fang is Hoodwink."

Then Makarov pulled out an identical piece of paper.

"And the chosen one for Fairy Tail is Natsu Dragneel."

#########################################################

There was a round of applause as both people walked forward. The clapping ended soon enough, and people began to take their marks.

"On your mark!"

"Get set!"

The sound of a gunshot echoed and everyone ran into the forest.

"Let the Preliminary Trials begin!"

#########################################################

 **Emergency** **Request: Explain The Mysteries Of Beyond Ch. 545!**

 **Mira: Mountain-lion-poooooon!**

 **Lucy: It's time for everyone's favorite part of this story! Let's get right into it!**

 **Mira: Question One: Who is taller; Master Makarov or Master Erin?**

 **Lucy: I think they're pretty much the same height...**

 **Mira: I dunno. I just think they're cute together!**

 **Lucy: Mira-San! Don't make me imagine those kinds of things!**

 **Mira: I just meant they're cute because they're short. Nothing perverted like you thought, Lucy.**

 **Lucy: Hey!**

 **Mira: Question Two: How far does the Dragon Fang protection barrier extend?**

 **Lucy: I think I heard Jodi-San say that the Dragon Fang Guild Hall is actually on the border of the protection. Apparently, it stretches over quite a bit of the forest and over a couple of hills.**

 **Mira: Wow! And to think this was all unknowably concealed this whole time!**

 **Lucy: That's probably Because to get here you have to know there is a barrier in the first place...**

 **Mira: Aw, Nevermind! Who cares anyway?!**

 **Lucy: Hey!**

 **Mira: And Now, our Final Question! Who do you all at the guild think will compete in the tournament?**

 **Lucy: I think you Erza, Gajeel, and Laxus have a good chance of getting in, Mira-San!**

 **Mira: Oh really? I can't say I thought the same thing about you.**

 **Lucy: Hey!**

 **Mira: And that is all we have for today! Mountain-lion-poooooon!**

 **Lucy: *sniff* Why were you so mean today Mira-San?**

#########################################################

 **Beta-San's Translation Corner:**

Fatales Eripitur Bellum is Latin for Battle Of Fangs and Fairies. Just FWI

 **Konichiwa my fellow Otakus! I don't know if any of you have started watching the new season of FT yet, either because it covers the Alvarez Arc or you just haven't had the time, but if you haven't I definitely recommend! Power Of the Dream is forever and always stuck in my head now!**

 **I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know I've been enjoying my Thanksgiving off, doing a whole bunch of nothing! Well, other than this Chappie of course.**

 **I don't know when I'm going to post again, so until next time, I guess. Also sorry for updating so late at night, I just wanted to get this out there before I get slammed with work tomorrow.**

 **You're all amazing!**

 **-BetaTest401**


	15. Announcement

Hello Readers,

I am very sorry to say that I have lost all motivation to write BC545, so I may or may not continue writing it. If I decide to continue it, it will not be in the near future. Thank you for being so patient and understanding.

-The Author


End file.
